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KOSSUTH 


N E AY ENGLAND: 


A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE 


HUNGARIAN GOVERNOR’S VISIT TO MASSACHUSETTS; 

WITH 


HIS SPEECHES, 


THE ADDRESSES THAT WERE MADE TO HIM, 


CAREFULLY REVISED AND CORRECTED. 


WITH AN APPENDIX. 


BOSTON: 

JOHN P. JEWETT & CO. 
CLEVELAND, OHIO: 

JEWETT, PROCTOR, AND WORTHINGTON. 
1852 . 




DB^37 

.3 

.M 

is 5a 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 
JOHN P. JEWETT & CO., 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 



Gift 

Emanuel Herf2 

March 24,1933 


- * STEREOTYPED BY 

HOti.ART & ROBBINS, 

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDERY, 
BOSTON. 



EDITOR’S PREFACE. 


In making this collection of Kossuth’s speeches in New 
England, I have thought it advisable to combine with it 
a descriptive account of his visit, with full details of the 
incidents of his reception in the various cities and towns. 
These are taken almost wholly from the local newspapers, and 
from the daily reports in the Boston and New York journals. 
I have used freely, the reports of Mr. Coggshall, in the 
Tribune; and still more freely those of Mr. List, in the 
Commonwealth. To the latter, in fact, I am indebted for 
most of the descriptive part, and for nearly all the copies 
I have used of Kossuth’s speeches. In general, the 
reports of the visits are taken with as little alteration as 
possible, and a good deal has been admitted that my own 
taste would have led me to reject. But, as the record of a 
most interesting event in the history of Massachusetts, it 
seemed to me that the book ought to contain, as nearly as 
possible, the impression that Kossuth’s visit made upon eye¬ 
witnesses, trained to observe and to communicate their 
observations, and the account of it that was read from day 
to day by the people, whose guest he was. 

The addresses made to Kossuth form an important part 
of the book. In almost every case, they have been revised, 
at my request, by the speakers themselves. On the whole, 
they well sustain the reputation of Massachusetts for 
eloquence ; and it may be doubted whether any other state 
which Kossuth visited can offer an equally respectable 
array of addresses to him. 



IV 


PREFACE. 


For revised copies of these addresses, and for reports of 
Kossuth’s reception in various parts of the state, I am 
indebted to the editors of the Springfield Republican, the 
Worcester Spy, the Plymouth Rock, and the Lynn Bay 
State. Also, to the Hon. A. N. Skinner, Mayor of New 
Haven; to Hon. Henry Wilson, President of the Senate ; 
to Hon. N. P. Banks, Jr., Speaker of the House ; to Hon. 
Anson Burlingame; to Hon. S. C. Phillips, Hon. W. B. 
Calhoun, Hon. C. W. Upham, Hon. Foster Hooper ; to 
Richard Frothingham, Jr., Esq., Mayor of Charlestown; 
and to Messrs. Erastus Hopkins, Wm. B. Greene, George 
Allen, Jr., Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Charles M. Ellis. 
To Mr. A. J. Marsh, of Holden, I am indebted for a 
phonographic report of the Kossuth meeting, in the City 
Hall, at Worcester, from which I have copied the speeches 
of Messrs. Kellogg and Burlingame, of which no report has 
heretofore been given. There has been considerable con¬ 
troversy about the speech of Mr. Burlingame, which I have 
therefore given in full, from Mr. Marsh’s report, the 
accuracy of which I can testify to, from my own distinct 
recollection of the speech. 

By the liberality of the publisher, the profits of the sale 
of this book will be given to Kossuth. It remains only to 
add, that the official documents in the Appendix have been 
obtained from authentic sources, and that the uncommon 
interest of Kossuth’s last speech or lecture in New York 
has induced me to give it insertion at the end of the 
volume. 

Cambridge, Mass., July 10 , 1852 . 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Invitation to Massachusetts,. 

Mr. Hopkins’ Address at Pittsburg, . , 

Kossuth’s Reply,. 

Address of Hon. Anson Burlingame, . . 
Address of the Mayor of New Haven, . . 
Kossuth’s Speech at New Haven, . . . . 

Visit to Whitneyville,. 

Address of the Germans of New Haven, . 
Arrival at Hartford. Captain Casement, 
KOSSUTH IN SPRINGFIELD, . . . . 
Address of Hon. William B. Calhoun, . , 
Kossuth’s Speech in Springfield, . . . 

Visit to the U. S. Armory,. 

Kossuth at Northampton,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at Northampton, . . . 
Reception by the State Committee, . . 

Address of Hon. Henry Wilson,. 

Kossuth’s Reply,. 

The Brookfield Letter,. 

Remarks of Rev. William B. Greene, . . 

Kossuth in Worcester,. 

Address of the Mayor of Worcester, . . , 
Kossuth’s First Speech at Worcester, . . 

Great Meeting in the City Hall,. 

Address of Hon. Henry Chapin,. 

Kossuth’s Second Speech at Worcester, . 
Address of the Germans of Worcester, . . 

Kossuth’s Reply,.-. 

Mr. Burlingame’s Speech, ... • . . . 

Speech of Hon. E. H. Kellogg,. 

KOSSUTH’S ENTRY INTO BOSTON, . 
Governor Boutwell’s Address of Welcome, 

Kossuth’s Reply,. 

Kossuth at the State House,. 

Kossuth in the Council Chamber, . . . . 

Kossuth in the Senate,. 

Address of Hon. Henry Wilson,. 

Kossuth’s Speech in the Senate, . . . . 
Kossuth in the House of Representatives, 

Address of the Speaker,. 

Kossuth’s Speech to the House,. 

1 * 


PAGE 
. 1 
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. -9 

. 10 
. 11 

. 13 
. 18 
. 19 
. 20 
. 23 
. 26 
. 27 
. 33 
. 34 
. 35 
. 37 
. 37 
. 39 
. 41 
. 43 
. 46 
. 48 
. 49 
. 55 
. 56 
. 58 
. 61 
. 62 
. 62 
. 65 
. 67 
. 71 
. 72 
. 74 
. 74 
. 75 
. 75 
. 76 
. 77 
. 78 
. 79 












































VI 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


Kossutii in Faneuil Hall,. 

Governor BoutwelPs Speech,. 

Kossuth’s First Speech in Faneuil Hall, . . . 

The Legislative Banquet,. 

Address of Hon. Henry Wilson,. 

Governor Boutwell’s Remarks,. 

Speech of the Mayor of Boston,. 

Speech of Hon. Josiah Quincy,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at the Banquet,. 

Mr. Pulszky’s Speech,. 

Speech of Judge Hoar,. 

KOSSUTH AT BUNKER HILL,. 

Meeting of the Citizens of Charlestown, . . . 
Address of the Mayor of Charlestown, .... 

Kossuth’s Speech on Bunker Hill,. 

Kossuth in the Grand Lodge of Free Masons, 

Address of the Grand Master,. 

Kossuth’s Reply,. 

Kossuth in Cambridge,. 

KOSSUTH IN LOWELL,.. 

Address of the Mayor of Lowell,. 

Kossuth’s Speech in Lowell,. 

KOSSUTH IN LYNN AND SALEM, .... 

Address of the Mayor of Lynn,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at Lynn,.. 

Address of the Mayor of Salem,. 

Kossuth’s Reply,.. 

The Danvers Address,. 

Kossuth’s Reply,. 

Address of Hon. S. C. Phillips,.. 

Kossuth’s Speech at Salem,. 

Mr. Burlingame’s Speech,.. 

Kossuth’s Visit to the Public Schools, . . . . 

German Kossuth Meeting in Boston,. 

Kossuth’s Speech to the Germans,. 

Kossuth in Roxbury,. 

Address of Mr. Ellis,. 

Kossuth’s Speech in Roxbury,. 

KOSSUTH IN LEXINGTON AND CONCORD, 

Address of Rev. Thomas Hill,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at West Cambridge,. 

Address of Hon. Charles Hudson,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at Lexington,. 

Address of Ralph Waldo Emerson,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at Concord,. 

KOSSUTH IN PLYMOUTH,. 

Address of Rev. Dr. Kendall,. 

Kossuth’s Speech at Plymouth,. 

The Plymouth Banquet,. 

KOSSUTH AT FALL RIVER,. 

Address of Mr. Sisson, of Pawtucket,. 


PAGE 
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. 136 
. 142 
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. 148 
. 149 
. 150 
. 159 
. 161 
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. 168 
. 170 
. 171 
. 173 
. 174 
. 177 
. 188 
. 189 
. 193 
. 194 
. 202 
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.241 
. 248 
. 249 





















































TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII 

PAGE 

Address of Hon. Foster Hooper,.250 

Kossuth’s Speech at Fall River,...255 

KOSSUTH’S LAST SPEECH IN FANEUIL HALL,.260 

The Kossutii Committee,.282 

Kossuth’s Departure from Massachusetts, .285 

APPENDIX. 

Mr. Hazewell’s Report on Intervention,.287 

Massachusetts Resolutions,.306 

Resolutions of a Dem. Dist. Convention,.307 

Resolutions of Vermont,.308 

Resolutions qf Rhode Island,.309 

Speech of Mr. Andrews, of Maine,.... 310 

Kossuth’s Lecture at the Tabernacle,. 325 















KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


INVITATION TO MASSACHUSETTS. 

The Legislature of Massachusetts came together on Wednesday, 
January 7, 1852. On that day, on motion of the Honorable Charles 
Theodore Russell, of Boston, a senator from the county of Suffolk, 
the Senate ordered that “ a committee, with such of the House as 
may join, be appointed to consider the expediency of inviting Louis 
Kossuth to visit the capital of the state, and tender him the hospital¬ 
ities of the commonwealth. 55 

Messrs. Russell of Suffolk, Burlingame of Middlesex, and Griswold 
of Franklin, were appointed as the committee on the part of the 
Senate. 

On the same day, the House of Representatives, by unanimous vote, 
concurred in the order from the Senate. On motion, however, of Mr. 
Erastus Hopkins of Northampton, the vote was reconsidered; and, on 
the next day, January 8, Mr. Hopkins asked leave to introduce the 
following resolution: 

“ Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be authorized and 
empowered, in the name and in behalf of the people of this common¬ 
wealth, to invite Louis Kossuth to visit this capital during the present 
session of the Legislature. 55 

Mr. Hopkins said he did not move the reconsideration of the vote 
of yesterday, concurring in the order of the Senate, because opposed to 
the measure, but because, on inspecting it, he saw that it provided for 
a committee to consider the expediency of inviting Kossuth. He was 
well aware that this was parliamentary phraseology; but he thought 
the present occasion justified a departure from the more rigid (and 
ordinarily more safe) parliamentary forms. There was not a man in 
that House,— nor was he willing to suppose that there was one in 
any of the branches of the government,— who really wished to con- 
1 



2 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


sider the expediency of inviting Louis Kossuth. Hospitality is not a 
matter of expediency. He would break away from the forms, which, 
though parliamentary, were on this occasion so awkward and cumber¬ 
some ; and therefore he asked leave to introduce directly a resolve 
extending at once the invitation, in which he presumed that all were 
ready to join. 

A leading reason for action in this matter was the shortness of 
time. How soon Kossuth might by events be recalled to Europe 
precipitately, we could not divine. At. any rate, he was already 
laying his plans with reference to the vast west, and no time should be 
lost in extending to him the invitation to visit Massachusetts. He did 
not think the ordinary caution of a diplomatic body was required of 
us. As a state government we had no diplomatic character, and were 
not, therefore, called upon to -weigh our words and actions, and to 
adjust all our looks and courtesies, as though they were to affect 
diplomatic circles. We were simply representatives of the pop¬ 
ular will. We well know what that will is,— that if Kossuth 
should come into our borders, every hamlet and fireside would be 
almost deserted, that the people might look upon and press the hand 
of this great man, whose person and whose cause find such a 
warm response in every heart. We were merely to express that 
feeling. It was genuine, all-pervading, gushing; and, in the name of 
that people , we empower the governor at once to extend to him the 
proposed invitation. In form, it was simple; in language, entirely 
unexceptionable. 

Mr. Hopkins said there was a fear in some quarters that such 
action would lead and commit us to some ulterior acts of an objection¬ 
able character. He had no such fear. The way to control a popular 
sentiment, when it was so natural and generous as this is, is to give it 
a full and hearty expression. 

Those who, though conservative, would repress it, were really the 
ones who provoked it to excessive and unruly action. He was, there¬ 
fore, for passing the resolve at once, and giving full expression, so far 
forth, to the generous feeling which pervaded all who heard him, as 
well as the entire people of the state. 

Mr. Hayden of Boston asked the gentleman from Northampton 
what he would gain by having leave granted to introduce the resolve, 
as then, under the rules, it must go to a committee. 

Mr. Hopkins replied that he intended, of course, to move a suspen¬ 
sion of the rules, and to claim, what he felt sure he must receive, the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


3 


unanimous consent of the House, who were all anxious to extend the 
hospitalities of the commonwealth as indicated in the resolve. 

Messrs. Kellogg of Pittsfield, Schouler of Boston, and Earle of 
Worcester, supported the resolution. Leave was granted unanimously 
for its introduction; the rules were suspended, the resolution read three 
times, and passed to be engrossed by a unanimous vote, and without 
debate. In the Senate, on the same day, the resolution was passed, 
with only one vote in the negative,— that of Charles H. Warren, a 
senator from the county of Suffolk. 

This resolution received the approval of Governor Boutwell, who, in 
his annual message to the Legislature, delivered January 15, referred 
to it thus: 

“You have, gentlemen, authorized the executive to invite Louis 
Kossuth to this commonwealth. This trust will be cheerfully and 
faithfully executed. Your action will be regarded as an expression 
of the sympathy of Massachusetts for the distinguished exile, and for 
the cause of European liberty, which he so truly represents. The 
common sentiment of America is on the side of constitutional 
governments. Nor will this sentiment be satisfied with an individual, 
unofficial expression. It will also demand, through the diplomatic 
agents of the country, a distinct declaration, on the part of Austria and 
Russia, as to their future purposes. If these governments shall assert 
the right of interference in the domestic affairs of European nations, 
or shall decline to make a distinct declaration upon this point, it would 
seem proper for our government to give them notice that we assert, on 
our part, an equal right to interfere in favor of republican or con¬ 
stitutional governments, reserving to ourselves, of course, the power 
to judge the circumstances and the necessity of interference, as events 
transpire. 

“ If, however, contrary to our expectations, Austria and Russia 
should assent to the doctrine of non-intervention, our object will have 
been gained. We cannot, in any view of the subject, quietly submit 
to the absorption of the smaller states of Europe by the larger, and 
the final subjection of all to two or three allied despotisms. Such a 
movement will not only be fatal to our commerce, but to the general 
industry and free principles of America.” 

Governor Boutwell appointed Mr. Hopkins to be the bearer of the 
invitation of Massachusetts to Kossuth. The subjoined corre¬ 
spondence contains the official documents connected with the mission 
of Mr. Hopkins: 


4 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Council Chamber , Boston , Mass ., £ 
January 15, 1852. $ 

Sir : I have the honor to introduce to you Mr. Erastus Hopkins, 
a representative in the Legislature of this State, who is authorized to 
present to you a resolution adopted by the government of Massa¬ 
chusetts. 

Be pleased, sir, to receive my assurances of the high personal 
regard which my fellow-citizens entertain for you, and their devotion 
to the principles of liberty and national sovereignty, of which you are 
an honored representative and defender. 

Mr. Hopkins will make known to you the universal desire of the 
Legislature to welcome you to the capital of Massachusetts. 

I am, with high personal respect, your obedient servant, 

George S. Boutwell. 

To Governor Kossuth, of Hungary. 


Pittsburgh Jan. 26, 1852. 

Excellency : The Honorable Erastus Hopkins has delivered me 
your kind letter, and the resolution adopted by the government of 
Massachusetts, inviting me, in the name and in behalf of the people of 
the commonwealth, to visit Boston during the present session of the 
Legislature. 

Be pleased, Excellency, to receive and to express to the Legislature 
my most hearty thanks for the honor the commonwealth of Massa¬ 
chusetts — which I have always admired for her steadfast adherence 
to the principles of civil and religious liberty, and for her successful 
endeavors to extend the benefits of education to all her citizens — has 
conferred upon me. 

I have the firm intention to avail myself of this generous invitation 
before I leave the United States. Allow me, also, to express my high 
regards which I entertain for your Excellency, and my gratitude for 
the sentiments of justice and of enlightened statesmanship expounded 
by your Excellency’s message, ever dear to the heart of my nation. 

Those principles which you advocate, adopted by the different states 
of the Union, will give the weight to the United States in the 
councils of nations which is due to their power, and would free my 
country and the old continent. 

I am, with high personal regard, 

Excellency, your obedient servant, 

L. Kossuth. 


To His Excellency, Geo. S Boutwell. 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


5 


To His Excellency, Geo. S. Boutwell, Governor, &c. 

Sir : I proceeded on the 17th ult. to present to Governor 
Kossuth a package, intrusted by your Excellency to my care, covering 
the resolve of the Legislature, inviting him to visit this capital; and 
covering, also, a communication from your Excellency, in pursuance 
of said resolve. 

After an unusual detention, on account of the recent storms, I 
found Governor Kossuth at Pittsburg, on the 27th ult. A very 
unexpected and favorable opportunity was courteously granted by the 
citizens of Pittsburg, to present the invitation of Massachusetts in the 
presence of a large assembly convened to hear the chief address of the 
illustrious guest to the citizens of western Pennsylvania. I promptly 
accepted the courtesy thus tendered to the State of Massachusetts. 

I enclose a copy of the remarks I made on the occasion, and also 
of the Governor’s reply, as the same are contained in the N. Y. 
Times of the 20th ult.; hoping that all I have said and done will 
meet the approbation of your Excellency, and the people of the 
commonwealth. 

The cordial greeting which I received, as a messenger from Massa¬ 
chusetts, from the citizens of that important section of our country, 
was a prominent and gratifying incident of my mission, which I can¬ 
not fail to notice, both as a testimony of respect to this commonwealth, 
and as a token of the strong fraternal bonds which unite the various 
parts of the Union. 

I am, very respectfully, yours, &c., 

Erastus Hopkins. 

Boston , Feb. 3, 1852. 

The “ unexpected and favorable opportunity,” to which Mr. 
Hopkins alludes in his letter to Governor Boutwell, was the occasion 
of the magnificent festival given to Kossuth, in Masonic Hall, 
Pittsburg, Pa., on the 26th of January, 1852. At the close of 
Kossuth’s long and eloquent speech, the Hon. W. W. Irwin, of Pitts¬ 
burg, rose, and, addressing the president of the meeting, said : 

“ Mr. President, I have the honor to inform you, and this large 
meeting, that there is now in this hall an ambassador from the land 
of the Pilgrim Fathers [cheers],— a messenger from the State of 
Massachusetts, charged with the pleasing duty of inviting Governor 
Louis Kossuth to visit that venerable and honored commonwealth. 
[Tremendous applause.] With your permission, Mr. Chairman, if it 
1 * 


6 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


be in order, I would desire that the citizens of Alleghany county 
should now have an opportunity of hearing the credentials of that 
ambassador, the Hon. Erastus Hopkins, read. [Applause.] ” 

Mr. Hopkins, rising amidst the cheers of the audience, said : 

“ Mr. President, after the soul-stirring proceedings of this after¬ 
noon, I dare hardly venture to obtrude upon your attention. It was, 
indeed, very far from my expectation, when I came a pilgrim on a 
toilsome journey at this inclement season of the year, that I would be 
enabled to mingle the congratulations of the citizens of the 1 Old Bay 
State 5 to Governor Kossuth with those of the people of Alleghany 
county. [Applause.] But, sir, my message, although not addressed 
to this meeting, is addressed to one whom we, in common with you, 
love, and whom we all delight to honor. [Tremendous applause.] ” 

Turning to Kossuth, Mr. Hopkins then addressed him as follows : 

“ Governor Kossuth : I am directed by his Excellency the Gov¬ 
ernor of Massachusetts to present to you the accompanying resolve 
of the Legislature, inviting you to visit their capital during the 
present session. The resolve is, in fact , no less than in its terms, 
‘ in the name and in behalf of the 'people of the commonwealth.' 1 

u Having with this announcement delivered to you the documents 
intrusted to my charge, I must be considered as having exhausted my 
official functions. 

“ Yet, sir, having had the honor of introducing the resolve to the 
Legislature of Massachusetts [cheers], and witnessing with pleasure the 
unanimous and instant concurrence of her four hundred Representa¬ 
tives [renewed applause], I will venture to add a few words beyond 
the record,— only such words, however, as cannot fail to be consonant 
with the sentiments and hearts of her people. [Cheers.] 

“ The people of Massachusetts would have you accept this act of 
her constituted authorities as no unmeaning compliment. Never, 
in her history as an independent state, with one single and illustrious 
exception, has Massachusetts tendered such a mark of respect to any 
other than the chief magistrates of these United States. And even 
in the present instance, much as she admires your patriotism, your 
eloquence, your untiring devotedness and zeal,— deeply as she is 
moved by your plaintive appeals and supplications in behalf of your 
native and oppressed land,— greatly as she is amazed at the irre¬ 
pressible elasticity with which you rise from under the heel of oppres¬ 
sion, with fortitude increased under sufferings, and with assurance 
growing stronger as the darkness grows deeper [cheers], still, it is not 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


T 


one or all of these qualities combined that can lead her to swerve from 
her dignity as an independent state to the mere worship of man. 
[Applause.] No. But it is because she views you as the advocate 
and providential representative of certain great principles which con¬ 
stitute her own vitality as a state,— because she views you as the 
representative of human rights and freedom in another and far distant 
land,— it is because she views you as the rightful but exiled governor 
of a people whose past history and whose recent deeds show them to 
be worthy of some better future than that of Russian tyranny and 
Austrian oppression,— that she seeks to welcome you to her borders ; 
that she seeks to attest to a gazing world that to the cause of freedom 
she is not insensible, and that to the oppression of tyrants she is not 
indifferent. [Great applause.] 

II It is well, sir, that your feet have not yet pressed the soil of Mas¬ 
sachusetts. It is well that you landed elsewhere ; that you have sur¬ 
veyed the most prosperous portions of the Atlantic coast; that you 
have surmounted the formidable Alleghanies, and planted your feet in 
the confines of this great valley. It is well that you should compre¬ 
hend its vast extent; that you should float down these mighty streams, 
and survey these mighty valleys; that, when your soul has become 
expanded by these scenes, and gratified by the free institutions which 
adorn and bless them, then, and not till then, should you turn your 
footsteps on a holy pilgrimage to the spot where American liberty had 
its birth. [Applause.] Its embryo slumbered in the souls of those 
illustrious and highly accomplished Puritan exiles, when, with religion 
for their handmaid, they set foot on the rock of Plymouth, and 
encountered the stern rigors of a New England winter. [Applause.] 
Their first-born child was popular Education. [Applause.] Their 
second was popular Ereedom. [Great applause.] In what words 
can the history of any commonwealth be so gloriously emblazoned, as 
in those three words, and in the order in which I name them,— 
Religion, Education, Freedom? [Applause.] Here, sir, is a tri¬ 
color for the world. [Applause.] 

“ Such, preeminently such, is the record of Massachusetts. One 
word only need be added to bring her history to the present hour, and 
that is but a corollary of the former,— I mean, Prosperity. As the 
man of piety surveys her borders, numbers her people, counts their 
wealth, he finds a new fact added to the proof of ages,— ‘ Never have 
I seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 5 

II I have said, sir, that Massachusetts is the birth-place of Ameri¬ 
can liberty. When, then, you have seen the full stature with which 


8 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


she fills these vast valleys and stretches herself over these mighty 
mountains, come to our little nursery, so retired from the turmoils 
and corruptions of the Old World, and we will show you the cradle 
where she was rocked to notes of eloquence which, while they soothed 
her fears, awakened a mighty continent to her nurture and defence. 
Come, sir, and we will show you the holy spot v r here the first baptis¬ 
mal blood of the Revolution was sprinkled upon her consecrated head, 
the camp-ground where Washington first unsheathed his sword in her 
defence [applause], and the fortifications which he first erected for her 
intrenehment. From the windows and balconies of the legislative 
halls whence this invitation to you has emanated these spots can be 
seen. [Applause.] 

“ Come, then, and stand amid these hallowed scenes; gaze upon 
them, listen to their silent eloquence, till it steals through every fibre, 
and breaks up every fountain of your soul. Drink with us of these 
first well-springs of American liberty, and you will find them still 
gushing and pure ! [Applause.] Ah, sir, is it not fitting that your 
last pilgrimage on this continent should be to such a place,— that, as you 
embark for the Old World, your parting act should be to drink at the 
most hallowed fountains of the New? [Great applause.] Sir, Massa¬ 
chusetts will welcome you. She is the descendant of illustrious exiles, 
who, fleeing from oppression in the Old World, sought freedom in the 
New. Her past history, her filial piety, bids you welcome as an 
exile. [Applause.] Herself the first in legal resistance to illegal acts, 
in constitutional resistance to unconstitutional oppression, how can she 
do otherwise than welcome those who follow in her footsteps? [Cheers.] 
Prospered almost without a parallel as she has been under the smiles 
of a kind Providence, she can give but a poor account of her steward¬ 
ship, unless her institutions of Religion, of Education, of Philanthropy, 
of Freedom, can afford most valuable information to all who seek to 
found new states, or, like yourself, to regenerate and revive those that 
are old. [Applause.] 

“I speak of her institutions of freedom. I mean her distinct 
municipalities. There is no centralization there. Distributed into 
three hundred and twenty-two cities and townships, it is in these, by 
her literally democratic assemblages, that her government is chiefly 
carried on. No central government established and patronizes our 
four thousand public schools. No central government levies our 
taxes to fill her coffers and feed her parasites. Each town provides 
for itself, levies its own taxes, sustains its own schools, establishes its 
own municipal regulations, and in each and all of these acts is inde- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


9 


pendent of every other. The cause of Education and of Freedom is 
thus reposed in the hands and hearts of the people. Reposed, did I 
say 1 No, sir ! it is because of those hearts and hands that Freedom 
and Education have no repose, but are pushed into the most active, 
vigorous and advancing life ! 

“ The aggregate receipts and disbursements of our little democratic 
organizations are some four or five times larger than those of our state 
treasury. It is true, therefore, that we have no centralization. 
Through the system I have described, the people are the government, 
and the government is the people. The ‘ seat of government’ is a 
fiction in Massachusetts, save as it signifies the hearts of the people. 

“ I have thus detailed somewhat of the history and of the present 
condition of the state that seeks to welcome you as her guest. Come, 
then, to her borders; witness the truth of all and of more than I have 
uttered, as you shall find it attested by our institutions, by the pleni¬ 
tude of our hospitality, and by the acclamations of one million souls! 
[Loud and long-continued applause.]” 

To this address Governor Kossuth replied, in the following words : 

“ Sir : I consider it a providential indication, that the public opin¬ 
ion of the people is developing itself in the constitutional way which 
your happy institutions — uniting the independence of self-government 
with the power of union — have founded as a rock of your present 
greatness, happiness and freedom, and for your future glory. I feel 
happy that the Legislature of Massachusetts — of that commonwealth 
which can proudly point out those glorious reminiscences of past his¬ 
tory—was among the first of the state legislatures to bid me welcome, 
after I had told openly the people of the United States who I was, 
and what was my wish. After this avowal, your welcome was more 
than hospitality. I have" the assurance of it in the official act and 
pronunciation of principles of the chief magistrate of your common¬ 
wealth. 

“ Sir, I thank you for the benefit which you have bestowed upon 
my country’s cause, by moving these resolutions which I am now 
happy and proud to hold in my hands. I thank you for the travels 
you have undertaken in bringing over to me this solace; and I thank 
you for the manner in which you have been pleased to deliver it to me. 
[Applause.] By your words I have already foretasted the soul-inspir¬ 
ing, the heart-elevating flood of that glorious well which you pointed 


10 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


out in your eloquent speech, and out of which, before I leave the 
United States of America, I will carry home that inspiration which is 
wanted to meet adversities and danger, and to hope success, such as 
that was which accompanied in such a glorious manner those struggles 
the cradle of which is your city-state. Sir, I will come to Massa¬ 
chusetts. I entreat your kindness to be pleased to charge yourself 
with a written answer to these resolutions, which I feel it is my duty, 
with gratitude and with reverence, to give.” 

Early in April, a telegraphic despatch from Mobile, Alabama, 
announced that Kossuth was on his way to Massachusetts, and expected 
to reach Boston in the course of a week or two. In compliance with 
a resolve of the Legislature, a legislative committee of reception was 
appointed on the 12th of April. It consisted of General Henry Wil¬ 
son, President of the Senate, as chairman; of Senators Burlingame, 
Russell, Knowlton, Keyes, Griswold, Bassett and Hazewell, and of 
Messrs. Hopkins of Northampton, Davis of Worcester, Kellogg of 
Pittsfield, Kimball of Boston, Ward of Middleboro’, Mansur of 
Fitchburg, Newell of Lawrence, Smith of Chelsea, Cowdry of Stone- 
ham, Nettleton of Chicopee, Hendee of Roxbury, Humphrey of Wey¬ 
mouth, Barney of Nantucket, Morse of Lowell, and Stebbins of Deer¬ 
field, members of the House of Representatives. 

A sub-committee, consisting of Hon. Anson Burlingame of Cam¬ 
bridge, General Eliab Ward of Middleboro’, and Chas. S. Newell, Esq., 
of Lawrence, were sent to meet Kossuth at New York, where they 
arrived on Thursday, April 22. On Friday they were introduced to 
Kossuth, who had just arrived from Newark, N. J. Mr. Burlingame 
addressed him briefly and happily : 

“Governor Kossuth: We have come to conduct you to Massa¬ 
chusetts in such manner as shall be most agreeable to yourself. Feel¬ 
ing that you must be weary with hearing speeches, we refrain from 
the expression of those emotions awakened by the story of your heroic 
life. We desire that our intercourse may be as informal as may com¬ 
port with your dignity and pleasure.” 

Kossuth took Mr. Burlingame by the hand, and expressed himself 
highly gratified to place himself under the charge of a committee of 
the Legislature of Massachusetts. He had longed to visit New 
England, and was glad the occasion for doing so had arrived. 

In company with the legislative sub-committee and a committee 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


11 


from New Haven, Kossuth and his suite left New York by the eight 
o’clock morning train for New Haven. He was accompanied by Madame 
Kossuth, by M. and Madame Pulszky, Major Hajnik, Captains Gre- 
schenek and Kalapszka, and by Mr. W. S. Coggshall, a reporter for 
the New York Tribune, who has attended him during his whole tour 
in the United' States. A special car was appropriated to the party. 
Though the time of his departure from New York was not generally 
known, he was greeted with cheers. At Stamford and Bridgeport, 
where the train stopped, Kossuth was warmly cheered by large 
crowds who had gathered about the stations. 

The train reached New Haven about eleven o’clock. A large 
crowd was gathered at the railroad station, awaiting its arrival. 
Kossuth was received by Hon. Aaron N. Skinner, the mayor of the 
city, and by the committee of arrangements. He and his attendants 
entered carriages and were conveyed to the state-house, amid the 
ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, and the shouts of the people. 
An immense multitude of both sexes had assembled at the state- 
house, at the south porch of which Kossuth alighted, and was form¬ 
ally welcomed by the mayor, in the following speech: 

MAYOR SKINNER’S ADDRESS. 

“Governor Kossuth : In’ the name of the Common Council, here 
present, and in the name of the citizens represented here by their com¬ 
mittee, and by this vast assembly, I welcome you and your distin¬ 
guished compatriots to the city of New Haven, and to the soil of New 
England. 

“On the very spot where we now stand, a little more than two cen¬ 
turies ago, was a savage wilderness; and just two hundred and fourteen 
years ago, the very week past, a vessel sailed into the harbor, with a 
company of brave and Christian men, who, as their very first act, on a 
peaceful Sabbath morning, of which the last Sabbath was the anni¬ 
versary, met under the spreading branches of a large oak, a short 
distance from this spot, in the public worship of God. You behold 
before you here, as you will elsewhere in New England, the descend¬ 
ants of that race of men who preferred civil and religious liberty to all 
else which men commonly hold dear; who forsook home and country, 
the hearths, the altars and the graves of their fathers, for the great 
idea, as one of our poets expresses it, for 1 freedom to worship God.’ 

“Those men, nurtured in the school of liberty, and imbued with 


12 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the spirit of the oracles of God, knew no other foundation for human 
liberty than that laid in the common education of the people, and the 
pure and enlightening teachings of the Christian religion. They 
accordingly established schools and churches, as the first step towards a 
free and durable republic. One of our orators has said, ‘ The village 
church and the village school-house are the monuments which the 
American people have erected to their freedom.’ If you cast your 
eyes on either side, you will see that the example of our fathers has 
not been altogether lost upon us their children. On your left hand you 
behold the temples of God; on your right, the institutions of learning. 
You will see the same everywhere in New England; the church and 
the school-house stand side by side, among the first and most interest¬ 
ing features of the natural and moral landscape. In these institutions 
our people have been trained, from the beginning, in a love of liberty, 
a respect for law, and in the reverence and the fear of God. 

“It is precisely because we love liberty, because "we respect law, 
because we reverence the Christian religion, that we are deeply inter¬ 
ested in your father-land. We know that your own Hungary has been 
the great battle-field of nations; we know that Hungary has been the 
bulwark of Christendom against the Moslem and the Turk; we know 
that a brave and chivalric race has, for ages, defended your native soil. 
We have read the story of that young and heroic queen, who, sur¬ 
rounded by the armie£ of the three great powers of Europe, and over¬ 
whelmed by calamity and misfortune, fled, in the darkest days of her 
adversity, for protection, to the brave and gallant people of your native 
land. She asked for help from your nobles, and she received it. 
When 1 the pale and pensive, but imperial queen,’ stood before them, 
in deep mourning, the crown of her ancestors upon her brow, her right 
hand leaning on the hilt of the sword of the Austrian kings, and lead¬ 
ing by her left hand her little daughter, and 1 committed herself and 
her children to their protection,’ the youth, the beauty, the calamities of 
the heroic queen, roused to the utmost intensity the chivalric devotion 
of these warlike magnates; and, grasping their swords, and waving 
them over their heads, they shouted, simultaneously, 1 Moriamur pro 
rege nostro Maria Theresa.’ They made good their words ; they did 
fight and die for their queen,— drove back her enemies with glory, 
and restored her to her rights and to her throne. 

“ Such has ever been the spirit of Hungary, in all the ages of her 
history, — brave gallant and noble, in the defence of the right and the 
truth. Such has she conspicuously been in her late contest for 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


13 


national existence and constitutional liberty. We watched with almost 
breathless interest the various fortunes in the tide and ebb of battle; 
we rejoiced in' your success, we triumphed in your triumphs, and 
our hearts swelled with joy and hope when you drove back your van¬ 
quished oppressors from your soil. And, finally, what a pang of deep 
and bitter sorrow and despair smote our hearts, when we found that 
all your valor, your sacrifices, your heroic devotion to your country, 
had been in vain; and that brave, chivalric, noble Hungary, had fallen 
in disastrous but not inglorious battle ! 

“ We deeply sympathized with you and your illustrious compatriots 
in that glorious struggle. We honor your country as a country which 
deserves a better fate; we honor all those brave spirits who partook of 
that bloody and unequal contest; we honor those who poured out their 
patriotic blood on the field of battle; we honor those who, for the defence 
of liberty at home, now wander in exile in foreign lands. And we 
especially honor him who was the master-spirit in that fearful con¬ 
test,— whose eloquence and patriotism inspired his countrymen to put 
aside all selfish considerations, to give up ancient privileges, and to 
grant to the whole people the equal rights of freemen. 

“ We bid you again welcome to our city and to our country; we 
freely offer you its privileges and its protection; and, if any of your 
number choose to remain with us, we with one accord offer you a home 
and a country, to share equally with ourselves in all its privileges and 
blessings. But, if you ever return to your native land, we hope it may 
be to a land of liberty and peace. And we devoutly pray that the 
great and just God, who holds the destinies of nations in his hand, may 
yet make your country a free country, as happy, as enlightened, and 
great, as it has been brave and heroic. 

“ Fellow-citizens, I now introduce to you the illustrious Kossuth.’* 

kossuth’s speech at new haven. 

Kossuth replied in an extemporaneous speech, of which the reporters 
could not hear the opening, owing to the distance from them at which 
he stood. It was, in substance, that he was embarrassed because he was 
greatly fatigued, and it was difficult for him to speak in the open air. 
The following is an imperfect report of the remainder of his remarks: 

* * * * 11 1 was very anxious to see New England. 

I was very anxious to behold the men who have been reared under her 
institutions,— institutions of freedom and religion, upon which the 
highest happiness of all nations must be founded. I wished to visit 
2 


14 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


your state, for I knew it had always been conspicuous for having 
furnished an asylum for all that were oppressed when Europe was not 
free. I knew that New England had always furnished protection and 
an asylum for those who have been persecuted by the enemies of free¬ 
dom in Old England. * * * * 

“Public instruction here yields its everlasting fruit. You are 
instructed in the principles of the divine revelation, and therefore 
you are a free people; you are an intelligent people; you are a Chris¬ 
tian, a religious people; a people able in the best manner to govern 
yourselves. From such men I am not surprised to meet with sympathy 
in New Haven. 

“ Gentlemen, I am soon about to leave the United States. The first 
impressions of which I partook when I came to New Haven’s shores 
will go with me across the water. Freemen are generous in their 
affections, and always hopeful. They have a place in their hearts 
for the misfortunes of others. It was not without anxiety that 
I have met them, lest sympathy for an exile should withdraw their 
minds from the subject to which he is alone desirous their attention 
should be called. It is not honors and glory which I hope for myself, 
but a desire to benefit the millions of my down-trodden countrymen, 
which brought me to your shores. The expectant millions of Europe 
intrusted to me the duty of laying my hand on the great heart of the 
people of the United States; and I wish to carry back the tidings that 
there is not only a feeling of sympathy for the oppressed, but also a 
bold and generous spirit, upon which we can rely, so far as your own 
institutions and circumstances will permit, if we raise the banner of 
Liberty, —the banner of civil and religious freedom. [Cheers.] 

“ Now, gentlemen, being about to leave the United States, the mil¬ 
lions which encouraged me by their expressions will soon ask me for 
your answer, and my last impressions will be the answer which I shall 
give them. Now, I have seen a considerable portion of your country’s 
territory, and have met a people everywhere great, generous and good. 
No part of the United States will feel offended when I say that I am 
glad that from New England I shall receive my last impression of my 
visit to the United States; and the answer which I shall carry back 
will express the sympathy of the people of New England impressed as 
God’s perfections on my heart. [Cheers.] 

“ The chief magistrate of your city, who has been so kind as to 
address me in the name of the citizens of New Haven, has been pleased 
to assure me that you have felt deep sorrow in hearing the tidings of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


15 


poor Hungary’s misfortunes. Let me say, gentlemen, that I believe 
there was indeed full occasion for that sorrow. Despotism found in 
Hungary a victim, and violated those principles upon which your own j 
freedom and happiness rest, and upon which your forefathers built. I 
know that there is one God in heaven, the father of all humanity, and j 
heaven is therefore one. I know that there is one sun in the sky, I 
which gives light to all the world. As there is unity in God, and ; 
unity in the light, so is there unity in the principles of freedom. Where- 
ever it is broken, wherever a shadow is cast upon the sunny rays of the 
sun of liberty, there is always danger for free principles everywhere inj 
the world. [Great applause.] 

“ The chief magistrate of your city has been pleased to bestow a 
word of approbation upon that portion of the people of Hungary who, 
to make their country free, jeopardized their own freedom. They con¬ 
sented to make the people partake an equal share in their liberty. 
Why did they do this, gentlemen 'l They did it because they had 
occasion to see and know that liberty was nothing, unless it was pos¬ 
sessed by many, by all. They had learned that this only could give 
security, and confer greatness. JEach country is interested in the free¬ 
dom of other nations. Hungary is crushed ; upon the ruins of Hun¬ 
gary the principle of oppression, of civil and religious oppression, goes 
on. From Hungary it spreads over Europe. After having crushed 
liberty in all the European nations, after having succeeded in consoli¬ 
dating this power, there is danger that it will go on until it reaches 
even to you. The Czar of Russia, in violence to the eternal law of 
nature and nature’s God, interfered in our struggle, and declared in 
his proclamations his intention not only to crush my people, but the 
spirit of liberty throughout the world, because he considered it incon¬ 
sistent with his rights, which he was not ashamed to call divine. Hun¬ 
gary was crushed because our example was considered dangerous to 
despotism. I ask you if they, even in their boldest imaginations, can 
possibly conceive of an example more dangerous than that of the United 
States, with its freedom, prosperity and power. 

“ I believe it is a most dangerous example to absolutism. So long 
as it exists, there is no security for despots, none for tyranny in the 
earth. Therefore, I say, if my countrymen were right in their strug¬ 
gles with Austria, if it was a struggle for civil, religious and political j 
liberty, the United States were interested in the result. If we do not' 
succeed in stopping the progress of despotism in Europe, you see the 
danger is brought home to you. I do not disclaim that I would have 



16 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the people of the United States not fear to meet the danger. To meet 
it may require great sacrifices and great suffering. It is always more 
, prudent to prevent danger than to meet it. It is more wise to prevent 
that our house should be fired, than to wait and attempt to quench the 
fire. Upon this have I rested the expectations upon which I came. 
I assure you I go back to Europe only for the purpose of meeting the 
danger that threatens the freedom of the world. Hungary, by the 
peculiar operations of Divine Providence, may now be the turning point 
of the world’s liberty, as it was formerly a barrier and stronghold 
against Islamism. 

“If Hungary is not protected, how is the world to be redeemed? 
If Hungary does not succeed in maintaining its independence and free¬ 
dom, soon there will be no freedom left throughout all Europe. Free¬ 
dom and independence have there been driven back by absolutism, and 
crushed for the time, while struggling for the ascendency under the 
high instruction which your glorious example imparts to Europe. If 
the triumph of republicanism shall finally be secured, I hope in God 
that Europe will not imitate those who have established a dangerous 
centralism, but follow your own example, which is more congenial to 
the freedom and happiness of mankind. This being my conviction, I 
thank God that I have been so happy as to have seen you and the 
workings of your free institutions; the inspirations of my heart are 
still stronger, and the resolutions of my mind still more bent upon 
restoring my own dear country to its natural rights of freedom and 
independence. When I have seen what a people may become by pos¬ 
sessing liberty, it is impossible not to long for it. I give you my word, 
in the name of my people, that we consider no sacrifices too great for 
establishing freedom and independence, when we see what glorious 
fruits these yield in the United States. [Enthusiastic cheers.] 

“When I go from the United States, it is not the poor exile whom 
I would have you to remember. He is not worthy of any attention at 
all; he even declares to you that he does not wish to receive any per¬ 
sonal attentions; for I feel, when I meet with your personal kindness, 
that my own country may be forgotten, and it is towards her that I 
would direct your generous sympathies, and all the ideas of your 
minds. I believe the time draws near when my country will need 
them all. 

“ The United States are making wonderful progress. Your republic 
will, it is estimated, soon contain one hundred millions of people. When 
such a republic exists, there will be no place for oppression on the earth. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


17 


For such a nation will look to foreign policies ; such a nation will be 
connected by a thousand ties with the struggles which are about to be 
made by those who will fight with all the resolution of men loving 
freedom, and trusting that God will give success to their efforts, though 
suffering them now to experience trials, for their ultimate good. 

“ When w r e take the banner of freedom once more in Europe, when 
the turning point in the fate of Europe arrives, we shall look for active 
support from the United States,—for such support as we have a right 
to claim. We hope the United States may be pleased to recognize 
those principles which are the common property of all humanity, and, 
by being common property, are your own, — the principle that every 
nation has a right to stand by itself, frame and establish its own insti¬ 
tutions and government, and that no foreign power has a right to inter¬ 
fere. That is the principle for which we contend, and on which we 
claim the people of the United States should insist. 

u We are approaching a great crisis, and stout hearts will fight our 
battles. We claim a great influence from your country, an influence 
which no other power on earth can exert. You should exert it on a 
scale corresponding with the extent, resources, power and influence, of 
your great country. [Cheers.] 

“I believe I shall not be able to speak to you longer, and that you 
must be satisfied with these few remarks. It requires so much exer¬ 
tion to speak in the open air, and the citizens of New Jersey and New 
York yesterday made such demands on me, that I did the work of five 
or six days in one single day, and I am therefore tired out. But I 
know for and to whom I speak. I know that your generous hearts 
will remain true and faithful, and warmly attached to these principles 
which make your glory and happiness, and for which we have been 
struggling, and for which we will once more struggle; and we look 
with confidence for the generous sympathy of the most free and pow¬ 
erful people on earth. God bless you forever, and God bless the 
people of the United States ! [Great applause.] 

“ I have been told that the city of New Haven is one of the brightest 
and most beautiful spots in the United States. Indeed, I find it to be 
so, and there is a beauty and a joy in being here to-day. There have 
been stormy days recently; but here we are met upon a fair day, phys¬ 
ically as well as morally. It is the second spring I have enjoyed in 
the United States. I know that spring is the mother of and necessary 
for fruits. Let me hope that your hearts will always be warmed by 
spring weather for those who struggle for liberty; because then I know 
2 * 



18 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


that summer will come, when out of this spring the generous fruits of 
humanity and liberty will arise. Such is my hope and my confidence. 
[Loud and long-continued cheering.]” 

At the conclusion of his speech, Kossuth was introduced to a num¬ 
ber of ladies and gentlemen, and then visited Yale College, where he 
spent a few minutes in the Trumbull Gallery, which was shown to 
him by Professor Silliman. Accompanied by the mayor and corpora¬ 
tion, he and his suite next proceeded in a train of carriages to Whit- 
neyville, two miles distant from the city, w T here there is a manufactory 
of rifles for the United States government, owned by Mr. Eli Whitney, 
son of the inventor of the cotton-gin. On arriving there, Kossuth 
was conducted through the establishment by Mr. Whitney, and intro¬ 
duced to his wife and other ladies. On a narrow wooden bridge 
between the two wings of the factory, and connecting them together, 
twenty stand of rifles were piled, surmounted by a banner bearing the 
inscription, “ Material Aid for Hungary.” These rifles are of beauti¬ 
ful workmanship, of cast-steel barrels, and worth fifteen dollars each. 
Over this bridge the workmen all passed, one by one, and by Mr. 
Whitney were introduced by name to Kossuth. Mr. Whitney then 
addressed Kossuth, and said : 

“Governor Kossuth: I address you in behalf of these friends, 
who cooperate with me in the manufacture of arms. They admire 
your virtues and patriotism, and, sympathizing in your noble cause, 
present to you these rifles. We feel assured, sir, that the present 
acquired reputation of this rifle will not suffer in the hands of your 
brave countrymen, when they shall use them in defence of their fire¬ 
sides and laws. We trust, sir, that the termination of the approach¬ 
ing struggle for liberty in Europe will find your country a constitu¬ 
tional republic, your people united and free.” 

Kossuth said, in reply: 

“ I most truly thank you for this valuable gift to the cause of Hun¬ 
gary. Be pleased to express to these men my most cordial thanks. I 
can give utterance to no higher approbation than when I say that with 
these rifles I will arm the twenty men who will be by my side in battle 
when the danger is greatest; and I hope your arms will lose nothing in 
their hands. There is a historical recollection about the name of 
Whitney, connected with the development of one of the chief elements 




KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


19 


of human happiness and prosperity on this continent. It is curious 
that, while on one side the name of Whitney is associated with the 
cotton-gin, the name of the second Whitney is connected with the 
instruments to defend this source of wealth and material prosperity, 
and the still greater blessing of liberty. Accept my thanks, then, and 
tell those gentlemen who are collaboratears with you, that, in placing 
these arms in the hands of those nearest to me in the struggle for Hun¬ 
gary, it will furnish them with an additional motive for valor, that they 
may not prove unworthy of such arms, made and bestowed by free and 
generous men. Accept my thanks, and God bless you!” 

The workmen then cheered loudly, and Kossuth and suite and 
party returned to the New Haven Hotel, where he partook of a private 
collation. Before leaving the hotel, he was waited upon by a deputa¬ 
tion from a German society, and presented with a purse containing 
twenty-five dollars. The chairman of the deputation, Mr. Leopold 
Waterman, in presenting the purse, addressed Kossuth in German, of 
which this is a translation: 

“ Governor Kossuth : The German Lodge No. 14, 0. S. H. F., 
whose aim it is to inspire the heart of each of its members with the 
sense and the principles of true freedom, has taken the most lively 
interest in the last struggle of your father-land for independence. 

“Your victories have gladdened, your defeats have grieved, our 
souls; and with deep and painful sorrow we have seen how all efforts 
and sacrifices of your heroic people could not obtain the desired lib¬ 
erty. 

“ You, Governor Kossuth, are the star which illuminates and cheers 
the night of oppressed humanity; and, as long as we yet find such 
men on the side of right and justice, remains our faith in the wisdom 
of an eternal Providence unshaken, and our hope for a final victory 
unchangeable. 

“ Begging of you kindly to accept our small donation, and to dispose 
of it to the best of your own judgment, we pray the Almighty Ruler 
of destiny to grant you a long and happy life, as a blessing for all 
mankind.” 

KOSSUTH’S REPLY. 

“ Gentlemen : I thank you most cordially for your sympathy and 
your aid to a just cause. You are right not to despair; and, as long 
as there is a kind Providence, so long there is hope for the oppressed 


20 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


nations. It was perhaps for the best that the last revolution was not 
successful, as a victory thus early obtained might not have the desired 
favorable results. I wish you would take occasion to read the report 
of my remarks before the German society at New York, in which I 
expressed my opinion with regard to the affairs of Europe. 

“Many good and brave men fell in the late struggle; and I regret 
that still more blood must be shed, before liberty in Europe will tri¬ 
umph. As for my part, please tell your brethren that, as long as the 
Almighty spares my life, I shall not cease to work also for the freedom 
of your old father-land, for the liberty of Hungary is intimately con¬ 
nected with the liberty of Germany, and of all Europe. 

“ Earewell! Gentlemen, I again thank you most heartily.” 

Just before leaving New Haven, Mr. Charles Ruckholdt, in behalf 
of the German Democratic Association, presented Kossuth with thirty 
dollars, accompanying it with a few remarks, to which Kossuth made 
an appropriate reply, thanking them for this token of regard. 

The gentlemen who had charge of the Kossuth fund also gave him 
one hundred and thirty-six dollars, the proceeds of several lectures 
which had been delivered in New Haven for the benefit of the Hun¬ 
garian cause. 

Kossuth left New Haven at three p. M., on his way to Springfield, 
Mass. His progress through Connecticut was one continual triumph. 
At every railroad station the people were gathered in multitudes to 
cheer him, as he passed along. At Meriden he addressed them briefly, 
and was presented with a small sum of money. At Hartford there 
was a very large and enthusiastic assemblage, to whom Kossuth made 
a short speech, which was answered by many cheers. 

A strange and interesting adventure befell Kossuth at Hartford. 
To make it intelligible, it will be necessary first to relate an event 
which occurred two or three years ago. 

When Kossuth and companions in exile were at Widdin, Bulgaria, 
in September, 1849, a Turkish officer of rank was sent to them by 
the Grand Vizier, from Constantinople, to inform them that a majority 
of the Divan had decided to surrender the refugees, and that the only 
means for them to preserve their lives was to renounce Christianity and 
embrace Moslemism. Kossuth’s heroic answer is well known; but, 
feeling that it was the duty of the patriot to make every honorable 
effort to preserve his life, he determined to write to Lord Palmerston a 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


21 


letter, explaining to him the dangers by which himself and associates 
were surrounded. 

Capt. Henningsen, of the English army, who had left England to 
aid in the Hungarian struggle, had joined Kossuth at Widdin. With 
him Kossuth consulted as to the manner of sending the important let¬ 
ter to Palmerston. He said he was too poor to hire a courier, and 
the letter must reach England in ten days. 

In Kossuth’s room, during this consultation, an Englishman had 
been sitting, who had come to Widdin to see the Hungarian refugees. 
He was grave-looking and silent. He sat for hours with his umbrella 
under his arm, biting his finger-nails, without speaking, and seldom 
paying any attention whatever to what was passing around him. 

When Kossuth asked Henningsen how he should despatch the letter 
to Palmerston, after a moment’s reflection, Henningsen said, 11 This 
man will take it,” pointing to his silent countryman. 

' 11 No,” answered Kossuth, u I have no claims on him.” 

- “ But I have, as an Englishman,” returned Henningsen; and, step¬ 
ping up to his countryman, he tapped him on the shoulder. The 
traveller looked up deliberately, and said, 

11 Well, sir?” 

Henningsen informed him of Kossuth’s wish to send an important 
letter to England; and when he understood the nature of its contents, 
he inquired, abruptly, 

“ Where is the letter?” 

Henningsen handed it to him. He rose from his seat, said laconic¬ 
ally u Good-by, sir,” and was gone. 

The first day’s journey of the Englishman from Widdin brought 
him back to the very spot from whence he started ! He then saw that 
he was suspected, and that there was treachery in the drivers. He at 
once demanded, in the name of the English government, and as an 
English officer, proper protection and uninterrupted passage. He then 
started again; and, after various romantic incidents, was enabled to 
deliver the letter in person to Palmerston within the specified time of ten 
days from the hour that he received it. Palmerston’s reply was that the 
Sultan should be supported by the entire British fleet, if necessary, in 
case he gave unconditional protection to Kossuth and his compatriots, 
— a declaration which undoubtedly had great weight in inducing the 
Sultan to persist in his refusal to deliver up the fugitives. 

The name of this prompt and generous Englishman was Boger 
Casement. He was formerly an officer in the British army, and for 


22 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


several years was stationed in the East Indies. But the monotony of 
the regular service did not suit his active temperament, and he resigned 
his commission and returned to London. The Hungarian revolution 
was then at its height, and the sympathy of Mr. Casement enlisted in 
behalf of those struggling for liberty. He repaired to join the Hun¬ 
garian army as a volunteer. 

At this time a large public meeting was held in London, at which 
Lord Dudley Stuart presided. An address of sympathy with Kossuth 
and his army was voted, and promises were made of valuable aid. 

Mr. Casement volunteered to deliver to Kossuth in person a copy 
of the address and the assurance of aid, which were tendered by the 
meeting and from other quarters. After many thrilling incidents and 
narrow escapes, he succeeded in getting into Hungary, but not until 
treachery had done its work, and the army of Hungary was broken up 
and its heroic leader was in exile. Mr. Casement followed Kossuth to 
the frontier; and at Widdin, in Bulgaria, he presented the address to 
the Hungarian governor. Kossuth and his companions were much 
cheered by these expressions of sympathy from London, though unfor¬ 
tunately it was too late for the promised aid. It was thus that Mr. 
Casement happened to be at Widdin at a juncture so important for 
Kossuth. 

Kossuth neither saw nor heard anything further of Mr. Casement, 
until he reached Hartford, on his way to Springfield. But, just as he 
was leaving that city, after addressing the people at the railroad station, 
a man stepped up to the window of the car in which he sat, and handed 
him a book. In the hurry and confusion of departure, Kossuth was 
unable to take much notice of either the book or its giver. But when 
the train was in motion he examined the book, which proved to be a 
copy of Brace’s Hungary in 1851. It contained the following brief 
note: 

u This is from the person who carried your letter from Widdin to 
Palmerston in ten days. Casement.” 

Kossuth was much affected at finding this note, and expressed deep 
regret that he had not at least shaken the man’s hand and thanked 
him. He said he was highly indebted to him, and hoped to meet him 
again, that he might personally express his gratitude. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


23 


KOSSUTH IN SPRINGFIELD. 

Kossuth’s reception at Springfield was a very cordial one. Soon 
after his arrival in America, the selectmen of the town sent him the 
following letter of welcome and invitation: 

{ Town Officers' Office , Town Hall , 

1 Springfield , Mass., Dec. 10, 1851. 

To Louis Kossuth, Governor of Hungary. 

Sir : The inhabitants of Springfield unite with their countrymen 
universally in welcoming you to America. They recognize in you an 
apostle, and, in some, a highly honorable sense, a martyr of liberty. 
They desire through you to evince their sympathy in the great cause 
of civil and religious freedom, throughout the world. 

In their behalf, and acting officially for them, we invite you to visit 
Springfield, and to partake of hospitalities which will be extended to 
you with most free and enthusiastic hearts. 

We have witnessed with deep emotions the recent struggles for lib¬ 
erty in Europe, and especially the matchless energy with which 
Hungary, by her glorious efforts, has attracted to herself the gaze and 
admiration of the world. We watched the progress of yourself and 
your noble band of co-patriots, in successive and successful battles for 
freedom, with an animated hope that Hungary was in very deed 
about to place herself, an independent republic, amongst the nations 
of Europe; and we deplored, as we still deplore, the interference of 
that power which crushed her efforts, and quenched, for a time, the 
lights of liberty, of honor, and of right. 

The past we regard as but the first scene of the drama. It cannot 
be that the people of Europe will not continue to claim, as rightfully 
theirs, freedom and free institutions. The progress of intelligence, of 
the means of education, and of religion, renders it certain that the 
result is not far distant, and that all bondage is destined soon to cease. 

We rejoice in this hope, this belief, this blessed assurance. And 
hence we desire perspnally to sympathize with all who are animated 
with the same impulses. 

We desire to see amongst us one who has shared so largely as your¬ 
self in the opening scenes of the glorious future. We desire to behold 
in you the symbol of European liberty. 


24 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Come, then, amongst us, and see what liberty has here accomplished, 
that you may yet more earnestly impress the lesson, what well-regu¬ 
lated liberty may and will accomplish everywhere. 

Accept this invitation, and receive the greetings of a people who will 
rejoice to welcome you, and to bid you and your noble Hungarians 
God speed in the march of liberty. 

With the highest respect, your obedient servants, 

William B. Calhoun, Selectmen 
Eliphalet Trask, > of 
Theodore Stebbins, ; Springfield. 

To this letter Kossuth returned the following reply : 

Newark , N. J., April 21, 1852. 

William B. Calhoun, Esq., Eliphalet Trask, Esq., Theodore 

Stebbins, Esq. 

Gentlemen : It was immediately after my arrival in the United 
States that I was honored by an invitation of the citizens of Spring- 
field to your hospitable city. I was very sorry that, at the time, I was 
unable to accept the invitation; but now, on my way to the capital of 
Massachusetts, I will be happy to return my heartfelt thanks to the 
inhabitants of the city which was the first to urge upon the govern¬ 
ment to invite me to the hospitable shores of America. You were 
among the first bidding me the welcome which has lately been 
extended to me by your Legislature; it is therefore doubly agreeable 
to me that the arrangements of the Massachusetts committee, on 
whose hands I am, allow me to remain for a short time amongst the 
people of Springfield. 

I start Friday, at eight o’clock, from New York, and arrive in the 
evening at Springfield, where I remain till Saturday noon. 

With sincere respect, gentlemen, 

Your obedient servant, 

L. Kossuth. 

The announcement that he was to arrive in the afternoon train 
from New Haven began, an hour before the arrival of the train, to 
attract a crowd of men and women, which gradually swelled, until one 
side of the immense new depot was literally crammed with eager 
expectants. Outside the depot, the crowd extended to the Massasoit 
House on all sides, and the house itself was full. All the windows and 
balconies of the buildings around were filled with ladies. Never did 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


25 


Springfield witness so large a crowd, or so excited a one, on any simi¬ 
lar occasion. There could no£.Jiave been less than five t hou sand 
persons on the ground. 

At a quarter before six the train arrived. When Kossuth made 
his appearance, such a shout arose as such a crowd could only make. 
Cheer followed cheer, as a posse of constables cleared the way for him 
among the crowd. The progress was slow, and the path was fairly 
fought to the door of the Massasoit, and even through the halls into 
the parlor. Once inside, the crowd he there met started the cheers 
again; and, politely bowing to either side, he won his way to a private 
room. 

By this time the crowd outside began to grow wild with excitement, 
and, as it was understood that he would show himself, and make a brief 
address, from the north-eastern balcony of the Massasoit House, the 
multitude shifted ground into Main-street, and, with upturned faces and 
boisterous voices, called upon the Magyar to come forth. In the 
mean time, the crowd was swelling, and every available place becoming 
occupied. At last, Kossuth made his way to the balcony, and, on 
showing himself, was received with tumultuous and persistent cheers, 
that would not relent until he had proceeded several sentences in a 
brief and pleasant speech. 

It was a well-worded, hearty greeting to the multitude that had 
gathered to meet him, and was received with much applause. He 
made a happy allusion to the National Armory at Springfield, spoke 
of the encouragement which the sympathy of the people gave him, 
and said that, although the atmosphere was harsh and cold, the hearts 
before him were warm. He added, with a naivete that brought out 
hearty cheers, that he had recently been in a part of the country 
where the atmosphere was W'arm, but where the hearts were not quite 
so warm. He concluded with the invocation of a blessing upon the 
assembly, and retired. 

On retiring to his room, several individuals were introduced, and 
among them a venerable Revolutionary soldier, Mr. Edwards. 

It was widely understood that Kossuth would deliver an address to 
the citizens in the North Church, at eight o’clock in the evening. In 
fact, a notice was posted to that effect in the streets. His fatigue was 
such, however, that he felt unable to perform the task, and the 
arrangements were overruled. In the evening, the selectmen had a 
meeting, and a conference with the committee of Dr. Osgood’s church, 
when it was determined that the formal reception of Kossuth, in 
3 


26 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


behalf of the city, should take place at that church, at nine o’clock, on 
Saturday morning, April 24. 

During the evening, Kossuth received several visiters from this and 
adjoining towns. Among them were George Merriam, of Springfield, 
and his family, from three of whom he received a check for fifty dol¬ 
lars each, as a contribution to the fund of u material aid.” 

On handing the Massasoit House Register to Kossuth, for his 
autograph, he wrote 11 L. Kossuth and Lady,” and then, for a 
moment considering what place he should write as his residence, said, 
“ I have no home,” and accordingly wrote “ Nowhere.” The mem¬ 
bers of his suite then wrote their names, as follows : P. Hajnik, Home¬ 
less ; Captain George Grechenek, do.; Captain Kalapsza, do.; Therese 
Pulszky, do.; Francis Pulszky, do.; and Stewart W. T. Coggshall. 

An hour before nine o’clock, on Saturday morning, the tide of 
human feeling and human footsteps began to set in the direction of the 
church, in anticipation of the reception which was there to be given to 
Kossuth, in behalf of the citizens of Springfield. For a half-hour or 
more the crowd was kept at bay, ladies only being admitted; but, at 
last, the force stationed at the door was overcome by the pressure, and 
the edifice was carried by storm. Every seat and standing-place in 
the church was occupied, and for full three-quarters of an hour the 
multitude waited for the advent of the subject of their interest. The 
delay was caused by the fact that Kossuth had not been informed that 
he was to speak at so early an hour, and when he was called for he 
was unprepared. 

He entered the church at a quarter before ten, accompanied by the 
selectmen and members of the state committee, and was received 
with such demonstration of applause as became the house that received 
him. On reaching the table, in front of the desk, Hon. William B. 
Calhoun welcomed him to the city, with a brief, cordial and eloquent 
speech: 

mr. calhoun’s speech. 

u Governor Kossuth : You will not doubt, from the scene which 
you witnessed yesterday on your arrival, and from the one which you 
witness this morning, that the hearts of our citizens are with you. 
As their organ, I bid you welcome to this valley of the Connecticut. 

“ We greet you, sir : we recognize in you a man , entering with an 
earnest and animated spirit into all those great purposes by which 
sympathy with humanity is exhibited. We recognize in you a dis - 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


27 


tinguished man ; for history is already recording the brilliant deeds 
wrought by you, and connected with your name in Europe. We 
recognize in you, more than all, a representative of the great prin¬ 
ciple of liberty. This endears you peculiarly to us. We have long 
been in the enjoyment of this priceless blessing. And we greet with 
gladness of heart one who is seeking for himself, and to impart to 
others, the same rich blessing. 

u You are now, sir, for the first time in your life, on the soil of 
New England,— the soil of Massachusetts,— Old Massachusetts, a 
soil from the beginning consecrated to freedom, and from which free¬ 
dom can never be eradicated. We have no desire to be the monop¬ 
olists of this vast boon. And we rejoice to have you among us, that 
you may see with your own eyes what liberty has done for us. We 
wish you to see the operation of it here, and in the various other 
municipalities through which you will have occasion to pass. We 
wish you to see it in our various religious, educational, civil, philan¬ 
thropic, and social institutions. Everywhere around us we wish you 
to behold it. Our institutions all stand upon the basis of freedom; 
and our wonder is, how the institutions of any people can stand on 
any other basis. We have a perfect faith that the time is approach¬ 
ing when they will stand on no other basis. 

11 But, sir, it is no part of my province to speculate or to offer an 
opinion concerning the existing condition or prospects of liberty in the 
Old World. I will not stand between the sound of your voice and 
the expectant ears of the throng before me. We all wish to hear, 
from your own lips, something of the state of Europe, and of the 
cause to which you are devoted. We have come up here to render a 
respectful homage to that cause, and to you, its advocate. Again I 
bid you welcome, now and at all times, to our homes and our hearts.” 

The hearty cheers which followed this welcome showed that the 
speaker had touched a sympathetic chord. As Kossuth essayed to 
reply, loud cries arose from all parts of the house,— “ To the pulpit! ” 
“ the pulpit! ” “ the pulpit! ” Kossuth bowed, with a pleasant smile, 
and ascended the steps. After alluding to the embarrassment which 
he felt on finding himself in a place consecrated to religion, he pro¬ 
ceeded to speak, in substance, as follows : 

KOSSUTH’S SPEECH IN SPRINGFIELD. 

11 Gentlemen: Here I am, at last, in Massachusetts,— that old 
commonwealth, bright with the glory of former days, as well as with 


28 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


present prosperity, — and let me add, bright with the glory of refut¬ 
ing the sad, hut oft-times true, reproach of humanity, that prosperity 
hardens the heart of men, and makes them less susceptible to foreign 
distress. 

“ I thank you for your noble and spontaneous sympathy. There is 
a character of true Christian brotherly love in this your sympathy, 
and there is also political importance in it. Honor to all to whom 
honor is due, and happy the land where many can claim the right of 
competition to be among the first in patriotism. But no portion of 
this great republic can feel offended when, taking the platform of 
impartial history, I ask where is the man entitled to bear a prouder 
brow than the Massachusetts man, when the freedom and glory of the 
United States are spoken of? And therefore, I say, there is a politi¬ 
cal importance in the bright ray of sympathy you cast upon me. 
Massachusetts must have its weight in the policy of the United States; 
and it is the public spirit of the citizens of Massachusetts, and not any 
accidental favors of nature’s whims, which makes Massachusetts what 
it is. 

11 But, as Divine Providence may call me yet to benefit my down¬ 
trodden country, not only with my sword, but also with the gleanings 
of my experience, I thank you particularly for the joyful instruction, 
which New England is about to impart to me, that national pros¬ 
perity does not harden a nation’s heart, if that prosperity be founded 
upon institutions and intellect connected with morality. To know a 
people’s character, we must see it at its homes, and look chiefly to the 
humbler abodes, where that portion of the people dwells which makes 
the broad basis of the national prosperity. One of my companions 
stopped here in New England, in the house of a working-man, who 
labors here at the wages of two dollars a day; and he found in the 
modest, but neat and comfortable house, besides the Bible and news¬ 
papers, a translation of some Roman classics, Bentham’s writings, and 
a History of the United States. 

“ Now, gentlemen, where the working-men draw spiritual life from 
divine revelation by private judgment, and converse daily with 
Roman classics, those ever-fresh sources of generous sentiments, and 
are familiar with Bentham’s analysis of deep philosophical utilitarian¬ 
ism, and draw daily inspiration of patriotism out of their country’s 
history, there I easily can understand how the heart of men remains 
generous in common national prosperity, and wraps itself not up in the 
selfishness of undeserved happiness. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


29 


“With you, citizens of Massachusetts, the love of liberty is more 
than affection,— it is a principle rooted in the very soil with the recol¬ 
lections of a glorious history, but with recollections not lulling in idle 
reliance upon the past, but warming your heart with the aspirations 
of proving it to be true, that it is no smaller virtue to develop and to 
conserve than to get, and not less meritorious to secure freedom by 
proving worthy of being free, than to acquire freedom. 

“ Let me hail you with cordial congratulation, brave and intelligent 
people of Massachusetts, on the very frontier of your prosperous and 
memorable commonwealth. Let me praise my good luck that the 
sympathy of the New England States will be the final impression upon 
my heart, which I take with me when I leave America, to act the part 
which Divine Providence calls me to act. That impression will 
strengthen my noble resolution in oppressed Europe, because you, 
citizens of New England, give me one mighty security more that the 
people of the United States will not blindly rely upon authorities, but 
judge by its own enlightened intellect, and then, letting pass the 
thoughts of its conviction through the warm tide of its heart, will 
assert with the energy of love what it considerately conceives. *— 

“It was a beautiful word of a distinguished son of Massachusetts 
[Mr. Webster], which I like to repeat, that every nation has precisely 
the same interest in international law that a private individual has in 
the laws of his country; and your enlightened intellect is aware that 
if the United States remain silently looking on when the despotic 
powers arbitrarily alter, modify and interpolate, those international 
laws, then the United States have ceased to hold the position of a 
power on earth ; because, the common law of all the great family of 
nations being thus decided without your vote, you are either not taken 
to be a lawfully independent nation, or you are considered so weak 
and powerless as not to dare yet to claim the position of being of 
lawful age. 

“ And, indeed, there are many incidents out of which it is very 
evident that either you acknowledge yourself not to be entitled to the 
position of a power on earth daring to assert its principles anywhere, 
or that the absolutistical powers are only too much inclined not to con¬ 
sider you a power on earth. Look at the instructions of your navy, 
in the Mediterranean Sea, recently published, forbidding American 
officers even to speak, in conversation, of politics in Europe. Look at 
the correspondences of your commanders and consuls, frightened to 
their very soul that an exile on board an American ship is cheered 
3 * 



80 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


by the people of Italy and France, and charging him, for the immense 
crime of having met sympathy, that he is possessed of a devil, and 
compromises the flag of America. Look at the often-expressed 
astonishment of European writers and European statesmen, even of 
such as Lord Brougham, that Americans, when in Europe, seldom 
dare be republicans. Look how French Napoleonish papers frown 
indignantly at the idea that the Congress of the United States dared 
to honor my humble self, declaring these honors to be not only offens¬ 
ive to Austria, but to all the European powers. Look how they 
dared sneeringly declare it to be a presumptuous arrogance,— nay, 
almost an insult,— that an American minister, true to his own and to 
his country’s fundamental principles, dared to pronounce his judgment 
about the pernicious, policy which some European powers pursue. 
Look how even such a small power as Greece, so highly indebted to 
the people of America, but depending upon Russia, and turning obe¬ 
dient, moon-like, around the Czar,— look how even Greece treats your 
consul, as no consul was yet treated the government of whom is con¬ 
sidered a power on earth. 

“ I know very well that there are men who, about the weightless 
position of America in Europe, feign to be consoled by the idea that 
there is a European and there is also an American field of policy; and 
if America has no weight in Europe, Europe has no weight in America. 
But that is entirely false. Has Russia no territory on the American 
continent ? Are the Canadas not British ? Has France — has Spain 
— no possessions ; and are they all not only claiming, but also exert¬ 
ing power and influence beyond their possessions in America ? And, 
besides, the truth is not to be mistaken, that, connected, as you are, 
by a thousand moral, social and commercial ties, with Europe, it is just 
as absurd to believe that it may be defined by degrees of latitude and 
longitude where European policy terminates and American begins, as 
it w r ould be to define geographically the limits of your commercial and 
social interests. 

11 1 take it for an axiom, that there exist interests common to every 
nation, comprised within the boundaries of the same civilization. I 
take it equally for certain, that among these common interests none 
is of higher importance than the principles of international law. 

“I say that, if the absolutistical powers are permitted to dispense 
with that law arbitrarily, they encroach upon your own most vital 
interests. 

“ And, to look indifferently at these encroachments is so much as a 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


31 


spontaneous abdication of the position of a power on earth. And that 
position abandoned, is independence abandoned. 

“ The principle of neutrality does not involve the principle of indif- 
' ferentism to the violation of the laws of nations, which are a common 
property to all nations. Indifference to these violations is rather con¬ 
trary to the principle of neutrality; as, indeed, it is a fallacy to 
believe that you are neutral. If we once more raise the republican 
banner of resistance against the oppression by the Austrian dynasty, 
that perjurious dynasty may arm vessels in your country, and embark 
volunteers upon them. Perhaps even they may find some foreign 
diplomatic influence has grown too strong in republican America; for 
Russian ‘divine right’ has not only advocates, but votaries, in 
republican America. They may find men who would fight for them 
by profession, having found men who are lying for them by profession, 
which, in any case, is less honorable, even in the service of despotism, 
than to fight. Yes, the Emperor of Austria, as of Russia, or even the 
inglorious usurper of France, may arm here vessels, enlist volunteers, 
and carry on commerce in arms and ammunition, to murder nations 
with, and they will be protected by all the maritime power of the 
United States ; but, if I would arm here vessels and enlist volunteers 
for the deliverance of my people from oppression, your laws would 
send me to prison for ten years ; and if I buy your arms in Spring- 
field, and buy ammunition, your fleet in the Mediterranean will not' 
protect this my commerce. Is that neutrality ? No ! Indifference 
for the principles of international law has led you logically into the 
necessity of granting protection to the oppressors, and refusing even 
the right of commercial intercourse to the oppressed. And, were it 
not so, neutrality, as a constant rule, is impossible to a great power. 
Neutrality, as a lasting principle, is an evidence of weakness, and is 
rather dictated by the rivalry of other powers,—as in Belgium and 
Switzerland,— than by own choice; and neutrality, as a permanent 
principle, is as much as the abandonment of the position to be a power 
on earth. Neutrality, to a great power, is always a matter of policy 
resulting from the nature of a particular cause; but to take neutrality 
for a lasting principle is as much as to declare that we claim not the 
position of an independent power on earth; because, to permit other 
powers to regulate the condition of the outward world, is as much as 
to grant a charter to those powers to regulate the foreign affairs of the 
indifferent power arbitrarily. I believe, gentlemen, that, with citizens 
of Massachusetts, there can be no difference of opinion about these 


32 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


views; and thus the success or the failure of my humble endeavors 
is reduced to the question, ‘Are the measures which I respectfully 
ask contrary to the principles and interests of the United States, or 
not?’ ” 

From this point Kossuth proceeded to argue this question. He 
spoke of his wishes, of the position of Hungary, upon the neutrality 
laws; and declared his position was what the democratic party had 
adopted before he came to America, what Mr. Cass had proposed to 
Congress, what Mr. Fillmore declared in his message, and what Mr. 
Webster defended. He explained his position in reference to material 
aid. He asked means now, only that the Hungarians might get control 
of the resources of their country. He did not ask it to revolutionize 
Europe. Revolutions could not be made by force,— they must spring 
from necessity; and when there was necessity, and the spirit of 
liberty, the revolution must happen. He argued that the people of 
Europe were much better prepared for revolution now than in 1848, 
and the despots were not so well prepared. If Louis Napoleon held 
his place, and a foreign war were made by France, it must be a Euro¬ 
pean war, and then the friends of liberty might have a good chance. 
If Louis Napoleon did not maintain himself, there would again be a 
chance for the oppressed. He spoke against the doctrine that the 
people of Europe were not prepared for republican government. In 
the revolution of 1848 they failed, because they sought after some¬ 
thing besides a republic. They supported centralization, and central¬ 
ization was fatal to liberty. Centralization was only not dangerous in 
the hands of men like Washington; and Washingtons were not so 
thickly strewn, now-a-days. 

In conclusion, Kossuth said he had been told that the people of 
Massachusetts were cold. God grant that he might always be among 
such cold people as he had found in Massachusetts ! The people were 
too wise, too prudent, too intelligent, to act upon sudden excitement. 
They liked to consider. Then how happy must he be to meet in 
Massachusetts such warm hearts, because it was from calm reflection, 
because the people of New England had always been known for their 
attachment to principle. Sudden excitement passed away ; the tear 
of passion dried up; but principles were eternal. Some people might 
forget him, but he knew the people of Massachusetts would never 
forget his cause. 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


33 


While Kossuth was speaking he was frequently applauded with 
enthusiasm; and when he concluded, six cheers were given. 

KOSSUTH’S VISIT TO THE ARMORY. 

At the conclusion of the speech, Kossuth descended from the pulpit, 
and, while the audience paused, passed out of the house, amid hearty 
cheers, in company with his entertainers and members of the state 
committee, and took a carriage to visit the United States Armory, on 
the hill. The National Horse Guards acted as escort. The streets 
were filled with people who had not been able to get into the church, 
and, when joined by the immense concourse that poured out of the 
edifice, presented a splendid spectacle of popular enthusiasm. 
Through this crowd, and partly accompanied by it, the Magyar and 
his cortege moved off for the place they were to visit. 

The Guards led the way up State-street, turned the corner at the 
extreme of the Armory grounds, and stopped at the shop where the 
musket-stocks are manufactured. Here Kossuth met, and by Mr. 
Calhoun was introduced to, Col. Ripley, the Superintendent of the 
Armory, who took his arm, and conducted him through the whole 
establishment, pointing out to him the entire process of manufacture. 
Kossuth was particularly delighted with the machinery for the manu¬ 
facture of stocks, and witnessed the manufacture of a stock from the 
rough block to the finished article. To the workmen he addressed 
frequent questions, and always thanked them, and gave them a cordial 
shake of the hand, in return for their answers. Kossuth apprehended 
the principles of the machinery exhibited to him with great facility, 
and was greatly interested in all he saw. 

From the shops the company proceeded to the Arsenal, and went 
through that immense building, viewing the arms there stored, to the 
extent of hundreds of thousands. While looking at them, Kossuth 
exclaimed, “ If I only had these arms in Hungary, and the enthusi¬ 
asm of the people of Springfield to back them, I should have no fears 
for Hungarian independence.” 

Kossuth was then conducted to the top of the tower, and shown the 
city of Springfield. Afterwards, he examined a model, manufactured 
at the Armory, exhibiting the principle of Foucault’s discovery, 
demonstrating the rotation of the earth upon its axis. In this he was 
much interested, and received its explanation with many thanks. 

A large number of ladies were congregated at the Arsenal, and 


34 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


waved their handkerchiefs and flags with much enthusiasm. The 
guest and his friends at last reentered their carriages, and proceeded 
down State street and up Main, to the Massasoit House, from which, 
after a hasty lunch, and the reception of several visiters, Kossuth and 
suite proceeded to the Northampton cars, and soon left Springfield 
behind him. 

The Springfield Republican, a whig paper, not over partial to Kos¬ 
suth. says of his visit: “ Never, probably, has Kossuth received, in 
a city of this size, an ovation so cordial, so hearty, and at the same 
time so spontaneous, as that which he received here on Saturday. 
The impression he has left upon our citizens is a good one, and he 
certainly cannot be insensible to the honor Springfield has shown 
him.” 


KOSSUTH AT NORTHAMPTON. 

On Saturday afternoon, April 24, Kossuth was met at Springfield 
by Erastus Hopkins, of the Massachusetts state committee, and with 
his suite and the members of the sub-committee was conducted in a 
special car to the beautiful town of Northampton. 

The train in which Kossuth left Springfield was a special one, 
and performed the passage through, without stops, in thirty-eight 
minutes. On the arrival of the train at Chicopee, a large crowd had 
assembled, who greeted the flying cars with hearty cheers; and 
another crowd and another shower of cheers hailed them at Holyoke. 

Kossuth reached Northampton at three o’clock, and before leaving 
the cars "was introduced to the selectmen by Mr. Hopkins. 

He was addressed in a few words of welcome by John W. Wilson, 
Esq., chairman of the selectmen, in which he took occasion to remark 
that in Kossuth they recognized the embodiment of the principle of 
liberty, and the great leader of the oppressed in the cause of freedom. 

Kossuth replied briefly, thanking him for his kind welcome, and 
saying, if there was anything embodied in him, it was misfortune; and 
the sympathy of his fellow-men was therefore deeply grateful to him. 

Kossuth was then conducted to the front of the depot, where the 
Northampton Artillery and the Amherst Artillery, under the com¬ 
mand of Colonel Haws, and the Torrent Engine Company, No. 1, 
were drawn up to receive him, the military presenting arms. On his 
appearance, the Magyar was greeted by the shouts of at least three 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


85 


thousand people, whose hurras were mingled with the sound of martial 
music, and the thunder of artillery from the heights above the town. 
Kossuth and his suite and the committees then entered carriages, and, 
escorted by the military and firemen, the procession moved to the 
residence of Erastus Hopkins, on King-street, where Kossuth 
remained a few moments, in order to gain a little repose ; after which 
the procession was again formed, and proceeded to the First Congre¬ 
gational Church, on Main-street, which was reached at half-past three 
o’clock. Here a dense audience was assembled, comprising many 
ladies, who received the illustrious Magyar with shouts of welcome. 

Kossuth gracefully bowed a response, and took a seat in front of 
the pulpit. The audience was composed in great part of Hungarian 
bondholders. The following extract from the call for the meeting 
explains the terms on which they were admitted : 

“ The Hungarian leader and the world-renowned orator will visit 
Northampton on Saturday evening, April 24th, and will address the 
Hungarian bondholders and citizens at the First Church, at eight 
o’clock, p. M. Doors open for the admission of bondholders at two 
o’clock, and for the public generally after the entrance of Governor 
Kossuth. All those who sympathize with the oppressed, and hope for 
the day when liberty shall triumph and Hungary be free, are invited 
to invest in this glorious fund.” 

Among the purchasers of Hungarian bonds were Otto and Jenny 
Lind Goldschmidt, Judge Dewey, and many of the Professors of 
Amherst College. Upon the platform were Hon. Lewis Strong and 
Judge Dewey. The meeting was opened by a brief address from Mr. 
Hopkins, in which he introduced Kossuth to the Hon. Chauncey Clark, 
chairman of the committee of arrangements. Mr. Clark then wel¬ 
comed the Magyar in behalf of his fellow-citizens to Northampton, in 
a speech of marked ability, strongly sympathizing with the great 
leader in his efforts to liberate his father-land. 

Kossuth, in reply, spoke about half an hour. He commenced with 
allusions to the historical associations of the town, to its natural 
beauty, and to its political importance, as once the residence of Joseph 
Hawley, a leader in the Massachusetts Legislature before the Revolu¬ 
tion, and as the burial-place of three senators in Congress,— Eli P. 
Ashmun, E. H. Mills, I. C. Bates,— and as the town from which 
were selected two of the Chief-justices of Massachusetts. He spoke 


36 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


also of Jonathan Edwards, and hoped that for liberty he might be able 
to make such an impression in the political world as this great divine 
had made in the religious world. 

Speaking of that eminent Governor of Massachusetts, Caleb Strong, 
who had been a citizen of Northampton, Kossuth said that he had just 
had the honor of an introduction to one of his descendants. Suiting 
the action to the word, he stepped forward to where the Hon. Lewis 
Strong was sitting, and shook him cordially by the hand. The 
applause which followed was tremendous. 

He proceeded to speak of the position and condition of Hungary; 
of its history and its institutions, and the character of its people; and 
then briefly explained the objects of his mission, and the hopes he had 
in coming to the United States. 

The republicans of America, he thought, were a proud people, and 
not without cause. But if, through this feeling of proud self-reliance, 
they look with indifference on the condition of Europe, the absolutisti- 
cal powers of Europe will not only crush liberty there, but, because of 
the fear and hatred engendered towards the United States in conse¬ 
quence of their wonderful growth and power, the tyrants will do 
everything in their power to check that marvellous prosperity; because, 
if America continues to grow as she has for the last seventy-five years, 
the despots of Europe will never feel safe. If it were possible for him 
to imagine that he was the Czar of Russia, he should feel a necessity 
in his heart, looking to the future support of his absolute power, to do 
everything to crush the republican principles of America. 

The hope of the down-trodden nations of Europe, he said, had been 
awakened by the sending of an American national vessel to receive 
him and his fellow-exiles; and they believed that America would be to 
them a guardian genius, and would cause the principle of freedom to 
triumph throughout the world. He would implore the American 
people to authorize him to carry back with him to Europe the assur¬ 
ance that the oppressed nations there should not look in vain to 
America for assistance in acquiring freedom. If she failed to do this, 
darkness will spread over the cause of liberty. The cause is worthy 
of her support, and does not conflict with her true interests. 

He then drew an interesting and affecting picture of the sufferings 
of Hungary under the iron rule of Austria, painting in vivid colors 
the distress of the people. The taxes, he said, have been increased, 
within a few years, from four and a half millions to sixty-five millions, 
and many proprietors of large estates have desired to relinquish them 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


37 


to government, because the taxes on them amounted to more than the 
revenue derived from them. 

He concluded by commending the cause of Hungary, as a just and 
righteous one; and entreated his hearers to keep a kind little place in 
their hearts for the poor exile; but, if they forgot him, not to forget 
dear Hungary. Kossuth was repeatedly interrupted by the heartiest 
applause. At the conclusion of his speech, he was reescorted to the 
residence of Mr. Hopkins, where he spent the Sabbath. 


KOSSUTH’S RECEPTION BY THE STATE COMMITTEE. 

At half past eleven o’clock, Monday, April 26, Kossuth and his 
suite, together with the state sub-committee and Mr. Hopkins, arrived 
at the railroad depot in Springfield, where, upon a platform which 
had been erected for the occasion, he w T as met by the state committee, 
consisting of twenty-one Senators and Representatives, who had 
arrived in a special train from Boston, but a few minutes before. 
Mr. Burlingame introduced the Magyar to General Wilson, the chair¬ 
man of the committee, who addressed him in the following eloquent 
and appropriate terms: 

GENERAL WILSON’S ADDRESS. 

“ Governor Kossuth : In the name and in behalf of the govern¬ 
ment, I bid you welcome to the commonwealth of Massachusetts; to 
the hospitalities of the authorities, and the sincere and enthusiastic 
greetings of the people. I welcome you, sir, to a commonwealth 
which recognizes the unity of mankind, the brotherhood of men and of 
nations; a commonwealth where the equality of all men, before the 
law, is fully established; where ‘personal freedom is secured in its 
completest individuality, and common consent recognized as the only 
just origin of fundamental laws.’ 

“Welcome, sir, to the soil consecrated by the tears and prayers of 
the Pilgrim exiles, and by the first blood of the Revolution! Wel¬ 
come to the halls of council where Otis, and Hancock, and the 
Adamses, breathed into the nation the breath of life ; to the fields of 
battle where Warren and his comrades fell fighting for freedom and 
the rights of man; and where the peerless chieftain, to whose tomb 
you have just made a pilgrimage, first marshalled the armies of the 
republic ! Welcome to the native state of Franklin, who pleaded the 
4 



38 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


cause of his country, to willing and unwilling ears, in the Old World, 
as you are pleading the cause of your country in the New World! 
Welcome to the acquaintance of a people who cherish your cause in 
their hearts, and who pronounce your name with affection and admira¬ 
tion ! Welcome to their free institutions,— institutions of religion, 
and of learning, and of charity, reared by the free choice of the 
people for the culture of all, and the relief of all,— institutions 
which are the fruits of freedom such as you strove to give to your 
father-land, for which crime you are this day a homeless and per¬ 
secuted exile! 

u To-day you are the guest of Massachusetts. Sir, the people of 
Massachusetts are not man-worshippers. They will pay you no 
unmeaning compliments, no empty honors. But they know your 
history by heart. Your early consecration to freedom; your years 
of persecution and imprisonment; your sublime devotion to the 
nationality and elevation of your country; the matchless eloquence 
and untiring energy with which at home you combated the Austrian 
despotism, with which in exile you have pleaded the cause of Hun¬ 
garian liberty, the cause of universal democratic freedom and of 
national right; the lofty steadiness of your purpose, and the stainless 
purity of your life,— these have won their sympathy, and command 
their profoundest admiration. Descendants of Pilgrim exiles, we 
^ greet you warmly. Sons of Revolutionary patriots, we hail you 
as the exiled leader of a noble struggle for ancient rights and national 
independence. We receive you as the representative of Hungary, as 
the champion of republicanism in Europe. We welcome you, as we 
would welcome your gallant people into the sisterhood of republics, 
^ into the family of nations. 

“ The people of this commonwealth, sir, watched the noble struggle 
of your nation with admiration and with hope. They felt that the 
armies you organized and sent into the field were fighting the battles, 
not of Hungary alone, but of the world; because they were fought for 
freedom and for progress. Your victories were our victories. And 
when, by the treachery of Gorgey, Hungary fell before th& armed 
intervention of Russia, they felt, and still feel, that the Czar had not 
only violated the rights of Hungary, but had outraged the law of 
nations, and the sentiment of the civilized world. On this subject the 
message of his Excellency the Governor, and the resolutions pending 
before the Legislature, utter the sentiments of the people of Massa¬ 
chusetts. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


39 


u The wave of reaction has swept over Europe. The high hopes 
excited by the revolutions of 1848 are buried in the graves and 
dungeons of the martyrs of freedom, are quenched in the blood of the 
subjugated people. The iron heel of absolutism presses the beating 
hearts of the nations. ‘The voice of freedom is heard only in the 
threatening murmurs of the down-trodden masses, or in the sad 
accents of their exiled leaders. But all is not lost. God lives and 
reigns. The purest, the noblest, the most powerful impulses of the 
great heart of humanity, are for right and liberty. Glorious actions 
and noble aims are never wholly lost. The 

-* seed of generous sacrifice, 

Though seeming on the desert cast. 

Shall rise with flower and fruit at last.’ 

“ When you quit the shores of the republic, you will carry with you 
the prayers of Massachusetts, that the days of your exile may be few, 
and the subjugation of your people brief; that your country may 
speedily assume her proper high position among the nations; and that 
you may give to her councils in the future, as you have in the past, 
the weight of your character and the power of your intellect, to guide 
her onward in the career of progress and of democratic freedom. 

“Again, sir, in the name of the government and people of Massa¬ 
chusetts, I welcome you to our hearts and to our homes. I welcome 
you to such a reception as it becomes a free and democratic people to 
give to the most illustrious living leader and champion of freedom and 
democracy.” 


KOSSUTH’S REPLY. 

“ Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Committee : I feel 
not a little emotion in recalling to memory the deep meaning of all 
those eloquent words you have spoken, assuring me that the people 
of Massachusetts trust in God; and that, upon such reliance, success is 
sure ; and that, therefore, Hungary must soon be free from oppression. 
May the assurances you give me be realized! I hope much of the 
generous character of Massachusetts. I know her weight in the 
national councils. I beg leave to return my sincere and hearty 
thanks for the kind and obliging manner in which you have been 
pleased to welcome me; and I must express thanks for the high honor 
I have, to see myself the guest of Massachusetts. I should feel some¬ 
what embarrassed, in accepting these honors, if they were intended for 


40 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


myself alone; but I know the people and government bestow these 
honors as a manifestation of the interest they take, and the general 
concern they have, in my country, its unrighteous fall and unmitigated 
sufferings; and to be also a manifestation of your sympathy in our 
cause, because its issue is not indifferent to the Christian world. 
Gentlemen, I have hastened from the southern border of this great 
country, on the wings of the great democratic steam-engine, in order that 
I may have the high honor of meeting the Legislature of Massachusetts. 
I feel proud in being in charge of the gentlemen of thi3 committee; 
and will be happy to cross with them the glorious old Bay State, to 
the still more glorious Cradle of American Liberty.” 

Colonels Chapman, Williams and Needham, of the governor’s staff, 
were then introduced, by Mr. Hopkins of Northampton; and Colonel 
Williams, in behalf of the staff, addressed Kossuth as follows : 

“ Governor Kossuth : By order of his Excellency the Governor of 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it is made our pleasant duty, as 
a portion of his military staff, to meet you here, and conduct you to 
the capital of the state, if it be your pleasure. 

“ Upon your arrival in Boston, you will be met by a division of the 
volunteer militia of the state, to escort you to the state-house, where 
you will be officially received by his Excellency the Governor. That 
you may become better acquainted with our military system and dis¬ 
cipline, his Excellency the Governor requests us to invite you and 
your staff to review the troops composing the division, on Boston 
Common, to-morrow afternoon. 

“ Without troubling you with a speech, permit us to offer you our 
warmest sympathies, and most hearty congratulations.” 

Kossuth thanked the colonel personally for the kind message he had 
been pleased to bear from his Excellency, and begged him to be pleased 
to convey his gratitude to Governor Boutwell, not only for the atten¬ 
tion he had been pleased to bestow on the cause he advocated, but in 
an especial manner because he had taken the lead in the matter. He 
would be glad to meet the militia of Massachusetts, which, by its very 
character, renowned in days of old, proved that the best defenders of a 
free country were the people themselves. Kossuth again thanked the 
colonel, and through him the governor. 

Kossuth then proceeded to the Massasoit House, under the conduct 
of the governor’s staff and the general committee. The crowd in the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


41 


depot at the time was immense; and, as the Hungarian passed to the 
hotel, repeated calls were made for a speech. In one instance, Kos¬ 
suth stopped, and remarked, “ We are old friends,— you and I have 
met before.” This pleased the crowd, and they fell back, and Kossuth 
passed into the hotel. 

Soon after entering the hotel, Kossuth was introduced to each mem¬ 
ber of the legislative committee. Immediately afterwards, and while 
the committee were yet in the reception-room, General Wilson intro¬ 
duced to Kossuth the Rev. William B. Greene, of Brookfield, who 
presented him with a purse of one hundred dollars, the subscription 
of certain inhabitants of Brookfield to the Hungarian fund, and then 
addressed him as follows : 

“Sir: Knowing your high regard for municipal institutions, and 
your dislike to all centralization, the selectmen of Brookfield, local 
officers chosen by the people of that town, have taken the liberty to 
send you the following letter, which they request me to read to you. 
As it is advertised in the newspapers that you will stop ten minutes 
at the West Brookfield station, the selectmen have instructed me to 
request you — if it suits your convenience — to defer any remarks 
you may be pleased to make, in reply to their letter, until they have 
the honor to meet you at that place. They send their letter to Spring- 
field, in order that no moment may be lost, and that you may have 
the whole time at your own disposal, when you arrive at Brookfield ; 
for it is natural to suppose that the people would prefer to hear you 
speak, rather than to hear their own letter read.” 

“ Brookfield , April 25th. 

“To Louis Kossuth, Governor of Hungary dejure: 

“Money is strong, iron is strong, calumny is strong; but truthful 
thought, which appeals to the conscience,— that mightiest element of 
man’s nature,— and human speech, which is the vehicle of thought, 
are stronger than these. Human thought and human speech are the 
levers upon which God lays his hand, when he wills to upheave the 
nations. Your words recall to the mind of this people the days of its 
first love. Amid the glare of material interests, we were in danger 
of forgetting, for a time, the high destiny to which we have been called 
by Divine Providence; we were in danger of forgetting that we stood 
at the head of the advance guard of liberated nations; but liberty, 
which is the righteousness of states, is, like all righteousness, revealed 
from faith to faith; and the spirit of the American Revolution, re- 
4* 


42 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


fleeted back again from the revolutions of Europe, comes to conscious¬ 
ness of itself, and can never again forget itself. Yet our hearts became 
glad, notwithstanding all this, when we heard of your saying, in New 
Jersey, that you should make not many more speeches, because the 
time for action was drawing nigh; we rejoice to think that even your 
voice, powerful as it is, may soon give place to an equally authentic 
voice, that shall speak in the thunder of Hungarian artillery. For we 
believe (because you have said it) that the day of Hungary’s resur¬ 
rection is even now at hand; though we knew well, before you said it, 
that God would not suffer your down-trodden country to remain always 
in her living tomb. 

11 We are all peace men here; we are all waiting for the descent of 
the New Jerusalem from God out of Heaven. But we know that the 
world is wicked, and that despotism, which lives by violence, must 
perish by violence; we know that our Lord came, not to bring peace 
to those who profit by iniquity, but a sword; we know that he said, 
c I am come to kindle a fire in the world, and what would I that it 
were already kindled!’ So long as the Austro-Bussian despotism 
shall bear sway in the world, punishing women by the scourge, impris¬ 
oning, torturing and slaughtering men, corrupting the moral sentiment 
of the leaders of opinion,— yea, even in republican America,— the 
kingdom of the God of peace cannot be established on the earth; for 
it is written, 1 There is no peace, saith my God, for the wicked.’ 

“No man can isolate himself from other men; no nation can isolate 
itself from other nations. The nation that wraps itself in its own 
selfishness begins to suffer moral death. That which interests the 
welfare of the human race interests every particular man. 

“We are not of the number who say, What is Hungary to us, or we 
to Hungary? for we recognize that whatever relates to man, and 
especially to man aspiring after freedom, relates to us also. We honor 
ourselves in our own hearts, we rise in our own estimation, because we 
are conscious of being able to commune with you, and with the spirit 
of Hungary, in sympathy, if not in action. 

“ Certain individuals in Brookfield have subscribed small sums to the 
Hungarian fund. We have to request, if it would suit your pleasure, 
that you would be so good as to touch with your hand the notes they 
will receive in exchange for their subscriptions. So shall our children, 
when they touch those notes, touch that which you also have touched; 
and thus will they be able to establish a certain solidarity between 
themselves and you, and, through you, a certain solidarity with the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


43 


Hungarian people. WIlo knows but what some magnetic influence 
may thus be transmitted to them, which shall strengthen their aspira¬ 
tions for freedom, and %us increase the love of liberty in the world 7 

“ Francis Howe, ) Selectmen 
“ Perley Stevens, > of 
“L. McFarlane, ) Brookfield .” 

Kossuth, in reply to Mr. Greene, addressed him personally, as a 
clergyman, in some very impressive remarks on the subject of peace, 
which, unfortunately, were not reported at the time, as they were 
entirely extemporaneous and unexpected. He promised to reply to 
the letter of the selectmen when he should arrive at North Brookfield. 
To Kossuth’s remarks upon peace, Mr. Greene replied substantially 
as follows: 

“ Sir: The sentimentalism which passes under the name of c peace 
doctrine ’ is evidently unscriptural; and you have shown it to be irra¬ 
tional. It is true our Lord said, ‘ Resist not evil; ’ and also, { If a 
man smite thee on the right cheek, turn unto him the left; ’ but these 
commands have no absolute application; for, if they were of absolute 
application, they would not have been subsequently repealed. It is 
written, ‘ Jesus said unto his disciples, When I sent you without purse, 
and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything 7 And they said, Nothing. 
Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take 
it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword , let him sell 
his garment and bay one? Thus it appears that when our Lord was 
illegally arrested by the self-constituted force to whom he was betrayed 
by Judas Iscariot, Simon Peter was armed, in accordance with the 
express command of his Master; for the words here quoted were 
uttered in reference to that occasion. We read, a few verses further 
on, c And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said 
unto them, It is enough.’ Enough for what? Not enough to insure 
success in a contest with the creatures of the high-priest, and of the 
rulers; but enough to vindicate the principle that, when kings, emperors, 
high-priests, judges,— like those of Russia and Austria, for example, 
— assume tyrannical powers, their illegal usurpations may be lawfully 
resisted by the sword, and this whether the occasion presents itself in 
Judea or in Hungary. Our Lord did not suffer his servants to pro¬ 
ceed in their resistance; and he explains his conduct by saying that he 
proposed to establish his kingdom, not visibly, at first, but rather in 
the hearts and consciences of men; but he remarks that his servants 


44 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


would have fought, if it had been his object to establish a visible king¬ 
dom in the world. Now, I take it that the republic of Hungary pro¬ 
poses to exist actually and visibly on the face ^f the earth; and that it 
is, therefore, a political organization, for wdiich the servants of Christ 
may lawfully fight. It is your duty, sir, to serve God in your heart, 
and to do all in your power to hasten the triumph of the Prince of 
Peace: but you have duties toward Caesar, as well as duties toward 
God; that is; duties in this existing world of political relations, as well 
as duties in that kingdom which exists now spiritually, but which shall 
hereafter exist politically also. It is written, 1 There were great voices 
in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms 
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.’ 
Your present duty towards Caesar — that is, your duty, as a Christian 
man, in your relations with the political powers which are soon to dis¬ 
appear and make w r ay for Christ’s kingdom—appears to me, sir, to be 
this,— to attack the Austro-Russian despotism, as soon as occasion 
offers, with the sword. Any person who reads the Scriptures without 
prejudices must, I think, see that the so called 1 peace doctrines’ are 
not taught there. 

“The religion of the New Testament is opposed to everything 
which tends to isolate man from man, and nation from nation. Wars 
are of two kinds: wars of tyrants against the nations, for the purpose 
of creating division, scission, enmity, between nation and nation, 
between town and town, between man and man; such wars are con¬ 
demned by the gospel: and wars of the people against the tyrants,— 
wars which have for their object to establish harmony, peace and 
brotherhood, between nation and nation, town and town, man and man: 
such w T ars are holy. It is written, mystically, that, to further the 
purposes of a holy war of the people against their tyrants, the waters 
of the great rivers shall be dried up, to prepare a way for the kings of 
the east; and that the tyrants and their creatures shall be gathered 
together in a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, there 
to undergo a final defeat at the hands of God, and of the Lamb, 
and of the children of the heavenly kingdom. All the prophets and 
apostles foretell this holy w r ar, which is predetermined in the immuta¬ 
ble counsel of God. It is for us to take care that, when the bride¬ 
groom comes, we may not be found sleeping. 

“Isolation reigned under all the old religions; but solidarity, 
which is the opposite of isolation, will reign in the world when the 
religion of Christ triumphs. The Jews contradistinguished them- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


45 


selves from the Gentiles, the Greeks from the Barbarians; and the 
Romans conceived themselves to be, by mere right of birth, supreme 
over all other men. But how does the apostle characterize the New 
Dispensation ? He says, £ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there 
is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. There 
is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond 
nor free; for Christ is all, and in all. Through Christ, we have 
access by one spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, ye are no more 
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the 
household of God.’ The apostle speaks of a £ mystery ’ that had been 
kept secret in the counsels of God from the foundation of the world; 
a mystery that angels had desired to look into, but had not been able 
until after it was revealed in the operation of the constitution of the 
church. What is the mystery which was revealed, £ to the intent that 
unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made 
known the manifold wisdom of God ’ ? It is this: 1 that in the dis¬ 
pensation of the fulness of times, God might gather together in 
one all things in Christ, both things which are in heaven and things 
which are on earth.’ So the bond of solidarity takes hold of heavenly 
as well as of earthly things,— as, indeed, Wesley sings, in the hymn 
commencing, £ The saints above and saints below in one communion 
join.’ Thus the principles of the gospel are identified in express 
terms with the principle of solidarity, that fundamental principle of 
all genuine democracy. Thus democracy, when received in its truth, 
is shown to be identical with religion. 

££ The doctrine of the apostle does not differ from that of his Master. 
Our Lord said, in the most solemn moment, perhaps, of his life, when 
he instituted the communion service (that sacrament of solidarity), 
and just before he was destroyed, £ I pray, Father, that they all may 
be ONE ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be 
ONE in us.’ And, in the same connection, he intimates that the 
solidarity of his disciples is to be the evidence to the world of the 
reality of his mission. £ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be 
made perfect in one ; that the world may knoxo that thou hast sent 
me? A Christianity that forgets the doctrine and the practice of sol¬ 
idarity is no Christianity; for it fails to present the requisite char¬ 
acteristics : it is something against which the gates of hell continually 
prevail.” 

At two o’clock, Kossuth and his suite dined at the Massasoit House, 
with the state committee and a few invited guests. Immediately after 


46 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


dinner, the committee, with Kossuth and his companions, left Spring- 
field in a special train. At Palmer, some hundreds of people were 
collected. Kossuth stepped to the platform of the car he was in, and 
after he had been introduced to the people by Mr. S. T. Wallace, he 
spoke to them a few minutes. He said, in substance, that, as they 
were acquainted with the condition of Hungary, he need not argue 
its claims; that he was happy to be the guest of Massachusetts, and 
recommended the cause of Hungary to their persevering sympathy. 
He was very warmly applauded. 

At North Brookfield a large crowd had collected on the further side 
of the depot. Kossuth left the cars to reply to the letter of the select¬ 
men, which, he said, was one of the most gratifying addresses he had 
received since his arrival in America. 

u I am told,” said he, “ that you are an agricultural people. I love 
agriculture. 0, that it might be given me to have the tranquillity of a 
country life in my own dear land, during my few remaining years! 
You say you are men of peace. I am a man of peace. God knows 
how I love peace. But I hope I shall never be such a coward as to 
mistake oppression for peace. So long as there is oppression, there 
must be strife; and so long as my country is oppressed, I must be a 
man of strife. But you hear the democratic locomotive. That waits 
for no man, and I must bid you farewell.” 

At Worcester an immense multitude of people had poured in from 
the surrounding country to do honor to Kossuth, and witness 
his welcome to the “ heart of the commonwealth.” At half-past four, 
the approach of the special train from Springfield was announced by 
the discharge of cannon and the ringing of bells. At five, the train 
reached the railroad station, around which thousands of men were 
gathered in a dense mass, all eager to catch a glimpse of Kossuth. 
Here Kossuth was introduced to the mayor, with whom he entered a 
carriage, accompanied by Colonel Williams, of the governor’s staff. A 
smile of satisfaction and pleasure gleamed upon the face of the Magyar, 
as he looked around upon the enthusiastic multitude, who rent the air 
with cheers ; and, with head uncovered, he rose, bowed, and waved his 
hand. A procession was formed immediately, composed of a long 
cavalcade, two companies of the military, and a long series of car¬ 
riages, containing the Hungarians, the legislative committee, and 
municipal officers and other gentlemen of Worcester, which proceeded, 
amid the thunder of artillery and the clangor of all the city bells, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


47 


through Summer-street to Lincoln-square, and thence through Main 
and Front to Park street, in the following order : 

Two Assistant Marshals. 

Cavalcade. 

Chief Marshal. 

Music. 

Military. 

Mayor and Kossuth. 

Chairman of State and City Committees. 

Kossuth’s Suite. 

Executive Committee of the City. 

State Committee. 

Committee of Arrangements. 

German Committee. 

Members of the City Government. 

Citizens. 

As the procession moved through Main-street to the Common, flags 
suspended at intervals from either side, and bearing mottoes appro¬ 
priate to the occasion, floated upon the breeze, which bore upward the 
strains of martial music, and the shouts of the thronging multitude. 

At the corner of Central-street, the stars and stripes, thus sus¬ 
pended, bore the following: “Welcome to Gov. Kossuth.” 

A little further on, the Worcester Museum w r as finely decorated 
with American and Hungarian flags. 

Next was an American flag, w T ith the motto “ In Peace prepare 
for War.” 

Proceeding onward to the American House, another splendid flag 
was seen, with the motto, “ Hungary and Liberty.” 

From the flag-pole of the Worcester House the stars and stripes 
waved in the breeze. 

Approaching the corner of Maine and Front streets, another mag¬ 
nificent banner floated above the procession, upon which were the 
words, “ Terror to Tyrants and Liberty to the World.” 

Turning the corner upon Front-street, was still another, with the 
following: “ Welcome to Kossuth, and Patriots of every 
Nation.” 

Upon the Common the American and Hungarian standards were 
floating from the city liberty-pole, while beneath were gathered the 


48 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


enthusiastic multitudes, who had assembled to welcome the great 
advocate of human rights. 

The escort having halted opposite the Park-street Church at a few' 
minutes before six o’clock, Kossuth, accompanied by the mayor of the 
city, ascended the speaker’s stand, erected on the south side of the 
common, and was followed by his suite and the remainder of the party. 
Here he was greeted with the greatest enthusiasm by the immense 
multitude that filled the surrounding area. 

When the shouting had somewhat subsided, the Hon. Peter C. 
Bacon, Mayor of Worcester, took the platform, and said: 

“ Governor Kossuth: It has fallen to my lot to perform the 
delightful duty, upon this most joyous occasion, in the presence of both 
branches of the city government, and this immense concourse of spec¬ 
tators, to express to you their profound sentiments of sympathy and 
welcome. Your presence has awakened unusual joy throughout our 
city; and, in the name and in behalf of the city council of Worcester, 
and of this great gathering of citizens, I bid you a cordial and most 
hearty welcome. And permit me to assure you, in behalf of the city 
government and people, that we entertain the deepest sympathy for 
you, and the noble cause to which you have devoted, and are now 
devoting, your life. We recognize in you the honest representative of 
popular liberty and human progress upon the continent from which 
you came. ‘ And we earnestly hope that you will feel at home among 
us. 

“ You are surrounded to-day by the moral atmosphere that inspired 
the souls of Hancock, and Warren, and Adams, and Otis, and which 
nerved the hearts of those who made Lexington, Concord and Bunker 
Hill, immortal names. The love of liberty is indigenous to our soil. 
Here, where our forefathers fled from the tyranny of the Old World, 
they laid the foundations of free institutions, deep and strong, upon 
the rock of principle. Here they caused to rise together the church 
and the free school-house, together with a free press, for a free people, 
and an open Bible; and these have made us what we are. Our cold 
climate and our sterile soil have proved to us a blessing; and, unener¬ 
vated by luxury, strengthened by manly labor from day to day, and 
from year to year, we, their descendants, have kept the fires of liberty 
burning to the present hour. They were imported in the Mayflower, 
and were at last embodied in the Declaration of Independence, that 
great charter of our liberties. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


49 


“Among the cherished principles that we have inherited from our 
fathers, is the right of every nation to manage its own domestic affairs 
in its own way. [Cheers.] Holding these principles, and seeing 
their beneficial operation in the history of our own and other nations, 
what language of ours can express our feelings of execration against 
the monster wrong of the despots of Europe, who combined their 
energies of oppression to crush the nationality of your native land, and 
compelled you to stand here to-day an exile ? 

“ But all is not lost. There remains in the hearts of men, in every 
clime and nation, a deep and growing sentiment in favor of liberty. There 
remains the unconquerable and iron will to serve her cause; and there 
is, too, a just God, who rules the affairs of nations; and, though clouds 
have gathered and obscured the sun of Hungarian independence for 
the present, the time will yet come when Hungary shall enjoy a glori¬ 
ous freedom. 

“ Once more I bid you welcome, thrice welcome, to our city, to 
the heart of the commonwealth, and to the hearts of its people.” 

KOSSUTH’S FIRST SPEECH AT WORCESTER. 

“ Let me not speak, gentlemen. It is not possible for any eloquence 
to equal the rising majesty of the people’s spirit. Well, now that is 
an ocean before me. Sometimes God stirs the waves; then no man 
can dominate over them. But when God stretches his hand in peace 
over the waves, then the slightest breeze may be heard. [Cheers.] 
See how the waves move now! 

“ Gentlemen, like as the Holy Scriptures are the revelations of 
religious truth, teaching men how to attain eternal bliss, so history is 
the revelation of eternal wisdom, instructing nations how to be happy 
and immortal on earth. The rising and decline, the standing and the 
fall, of nations, are equally instructive to the contemplating mind. 
Unaccountable changes may alter, on a sudden, the condition of indi¬ 
viduals, but in the life of nations there is always a logical concatena¬ 
tion of cause and effect; therefore history is the book of life. 

“I like to look into the hook of life; to me it is an enchanted 
mirror, wherein the past assumes the shape of future events. The 
history of old Massachusetts is full of instruction to those who know 
how to read unwritten philosophy in written facts. Besides, to me it 
is of deep interest, because, from the very time that the colonial 
system was adopted by Great Britain, to secure the monopoly of the 
5 


50 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


American trade, and to prevent the rising of the colonists to strengthen 
independence, down to Washington’s misfortunes and final victories,— 
from James Otis, pleading with words of flame the rights of America 
before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, breathing into the nation 
the breath of life, out of which American Independence was born, 
down to the Declaration of Independence, first moved bj a son of 
Massachusetts,— there are such striking resemblances between your 
country’s history and that of mine, that, in reflecting upon them, I 
often believe I read Hungary when I read Massachusetts. [Cheers.] 
But, then, when the kind cheers of your generous-hearted people 
rouse me out of my contemplative reveries, and, looking around me, I 
see your prosperity, a sadness of nameless woe comes over my mind, 
because that very prosperity reminds me that I am not at home. The 
home of my fathers, the home of my heart, the home of my affec¬ 
tions and of my cares, is in the most striking contrast with the pros¬ 
perity I see here. And whence this striking contrast in the results, 
when there exists such a striking identity in the antecedents'? 
Whence this afflicting departure from the logical necessity in history,— 
whereas the resemblance in proceedings goes so far, that I act pre¬ 
cisely that part in the United States which Massachusetts’ immortal 
son, Franklin, acted in France ; — acted, it is true, supported by 
infinite personal merit, whereas I have none, but, I dare say, acted 
not with more devotion than I myself. [Cheers.] 

“Well, the cause which accounts for the mighty difference in the 
results is, that your struggle for independence met the good luck of 
monarchical France stipulating to aid with its full force America 
struggling for independence, whereas republican America delayed even 
a speedy recognition of Hungary’s achieved independence. However, 
the equality of results may yet come. History will not prove false to 
poor Hungary, w r hile it proves true to all the world. I certainly will 
never meet the reputation of Franklin ; but I may yet meet his good 
luck in a patriotic mission. [Cheers.] It is not yet too late. [Cheers.] 
My people, like the damsel in the Scriptures, is but sleeping, and not 
dead. [Cheers.] Sleep is silent, but restores to strength. [Cries of 
1 Good, good.’] There is apparent silence also in nature before the 
storm; only the stormy petrel sweeps along, scenting instinctively the 
approaching storm. I am somewhat of a storm-bird ; only I do not 
scent the storm instinctively, but know it consciously. [Cheers.] Then 
why should I despond to see yet history true to its logic 7 Why 
should I despair to meet in my mission the good luck of Franklin yet 7 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


51 


We are down-trodden, it is true; but was Washington not in a dreary 
retreat, with his few brave men, scarcely to be called an army, when 
Franklin drew nigh to success in his mission 7 

“ My retreat is somewhat longer, to be sure; but then our struggle 
went on, from the first moment, on a more gigantic scale ; and, again, 
the success of Franklin was aided by the hatred of France against 
England ; so I am told, and it is true ; but I have for me the love of 
America for liberty and for right; and God knows my people’s cause 
is the cause of liberty. [Cheers.] I trust that the love of liberty in 
republican America will prove such a source of generous inspiration, 
as hatred of Great Britain did prove in monarchical France. And, 
should it be the doom of humanity that even republics like yours 
could be more mightily moved by hatred than by love, I may be per¬ 
mitted to ask, is there less reason for republican America to hate the 
overwhelming progress of absolutism than there was reason for France 
to hate England’s prosperity 7 The United States, torn from the 
dominion of England, did not injure her prosperity; rather it has 
increased it in ultimate results ; but the predominance of absolutism, 
absorbing Europe, would injure your prosperity, because you are no 
China, no Japan; you cannot confine yourself within your own bound¬ 
aries. Having entered the family of nations, national intercourse has 
become a life-artery to you; and, that being the case, the condition of 
the outward world, with which you have, and must continue to have, a 
national intercourse, cannot be indifferent to you. The effects of 
intercourse are reciprocal; and when principles are brought to a 
clashing strife, there is community in the results. 

“ Principles and their influence are not to be confined by geogra¬ 
phical lines. America cannot remain unaffected by the condition of 
Europe, with which you have a thousand-fold intercourse. A passing 
accident in Liverpool, a fire in Manchester, cannot fail to be felt in 
America; — how could, then, the fire of despotic oppression, which 
threatens to consume all Europe, freedom, civilization and property, 
fail to affect, in its results, America 7 How can it be indifferent to 
you, if Europe be free or enslaved 7 How can it be indifferent to 
you, if there exists a thing styled ‘ Law of Nations,’or if no such 
thing more exists, being replaced by the arbitrary whims of an arro¬ 
gant mortal, who is called ‘ Czar ’ 7 [A voice,—‘ Three groans for the 
Czar.’ The groans were given with right good-will.] Well, that is 
good; but I hope the time draws near when we will give him some¬ 
thing more hard than groans. [Cheers.] No ! either all the instruc- 



52 


KOSSUTII IK NEW ENGLAND. 


tion of history is vanity, and its warnings but the pastime of a mock¬ 
ing-bird, or this indifference is impossible; therefore I may yet meet 
with Franklin’s good luck. [Cheers.] 

“ Franklin wrote to his friend, Charles Thompson, after having 
concluded the treaty of peace, £ If we ever become ungrateful to those 
who have served and befriended us, our reputation, and all the 
strength it is capable of procuring, will be lost, and new dangers ensue. 

“ Perhaps I could say, poor Hungary has well served Christendom, 
has well served the cause of humanity; but, indeed, we are not so 
happy as to have served your country in particular. But you are 
generous enough, that our unmerited misfortunes may as much recom¬ 
mend us to your affections as a good service might recommend us. It 
is beautiful to repay a received benefit, but to bestow a benefit is divine. 
[Loud and repeated cheers.] It is your good fortune to be able to do 
good to humanity; let it your glory be, that you are willing to do it. 
[Cheers.] 

“ Such and similar have been the thoughts which came to my mind 
while I passed over the classical soil of Massachusetts. There was 
consolation in that progress, and there was hope and encouragement in 
it. And now here I stand, in the heart of this glorious commonwealth. 
[Cheers.] 0 ! let me lay my hand upon that heart, and mark the 
pulsation of it; the pulsation of my own heart much depends upon 
how the heart of your commonwealth throbs. [Cheers.] 

“ Yes, gentlemen; anxious hope and expectations of millions have 
accompanied me to your shores. 

“ The grave Turk wept when I left his shores. ‘ Allah izmar - 
ladek ’ was his parting word; and the dervish chief poured water 
upon my road, and raised his hands to the Eternal to bless my ways. 
The Italian sparkled with the recollection of ancient greatness, and 
with the hope of a better future, in meeting me. The Frenchman 
raised the hymn of freedom, and a flash like the lightning passed over 
his brow when he chanted £ Tremble, ye Tyrants ! ’ and he looked 
like a prophet when he sang of £ him the perfidious ! the oppro¬ 
brium oe our nation.’ At Marseilles a republican swam over the 
cold waves of the sea, to touch the hand of the exile, whom the star- 
spangled banner had restored to activity. England’s gallant soldiers, 
watching on the rock of Gibraltar, thundered their hurras to heaven, 
when, in answer to their greeting, I drank them the toast, ‘ England 
and America: May their banners unite in the prosecution of the rights 
of humanity [tremendous cheers], and their swords be drawn in com- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


53 


mon forjiberty and right’ [cheers]; and when I stopped at Lisbon, 
that beautiful jewel on earth, the glowing Portuguese flamed with 
inspiration in welcoming me, and sobbed with emotion in bidding me 
farewell. 

“And the people of England,— 0! I cannot describe,— there was 
a revelation of the people’s majesty in what I met there, as seldom yet 
was seen in history; and when the people came to me, hailing America, 
and speaking the praise of your Washington, and charged me to bring 
its brotherly greetings to the younger brother, so happy and so free' 
[cheers], and to tell Brother Jonathan that the spirit of liberty is 
alive in old brother John Bull! [Tremendous cheering, and waving 
of hats.] Then England’s people looked, indeed, like the embodiment 
of those words which King George the Third spoke to your John 
Adams, the first of independent American ambassadors to England, 
c Let the family ties of language, religion and blood, have their full 
and natural effect.’ [Cheers.] 

“ Yes, gentlemen, such were the manifestations with which I have 
embarked for America. I, in embarking, saw the tricolor flag of 
Hungary hoisted above my head to the top of an English mast, and! 
heard it saluted from Southampton’s batteries with a royal salute of 
farewell; and, on my arrival at New York, I heard it reechoed with a 
full republican salute from the batteries of the United States, welcom¬ 
ing with the honors of the Union the tricolor flag of Hungary, floating 
over my head from an American mast; and every manifestation was a 
ray of hope more, and every cannon-shot an expectation more, roused 
in the hearts of Europe’s millions. Four months have since passed ; 
during those four months, my breast was a foaming bed of a continual 
ebb and tide of hope. Now my task is nearly done; some few days 
yet, and, in recrossing the Atlantic, I shall sit like the laborer on his 
plough, wiping off the sweat of my brow, and musing about the strange 
episode, never yet seen in, mankind’s history, that a stranger, the unas¬ 
suming offspring of an Asiatic race transplanted to Europe, being a 
poor exile, had been borne on in triumph by popular sympathy, for his 
misfortunes’ sake, as no crowned conqueror will be borne on for his 
successes’ sake, in republican America; and, summing up the present 
and future results of these unprecedented popular manifestations, and 
combining them with the vital power of true principles, I will record the 
answer I shall have to tell, on the part of the people of America, to the 
expectations and hopes of Europe’s millions; and, as I approach the 
east, I will look anxiously back towards the west, to mark if the galaxy 
5 * 


54 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of American stars be rising from the new capital with the lustre of a 
new sun, and if the young eagle of America be towering on his gigan¬ 
tic wings, to watch from on high the arrogant movements of the bear 
of violence against bleeding mankind, sheltering itself beneath the laws 
of nature and nature’s God. 

“ Shall I see that eagle towering? Shall I see the glowing galaxy 
of American stars rising over the gloomy horizon of liberty ? Thei\ 
what will be the tidings I shall have to bear, in answer to the expecta¬ 
tions with which I was charged ? Let me hope the answer will be fit 
to be reanswered by a mighty hallelujah, at the shout of which the 
thrones of tyrants will quake; and when they are fallen, and buried 
beneath the fallen pillars of tyranny, all the Christian world will unite 
in the song of praise, 1 Glory to God in heaven, and peace to good- 
willing men on earth, and honor to America, the first-born son of 
Liberty; for no nation has God done so much as her, for she proved 
to be well deserving of it, because she was obedient to his divine law. 
She has loved her neighbor as herself; and did unto others as she 
desired, in the hour of her need, others to do unto herself.’ 

“Gentlemen, I know what weight is due Massachusetts in the 
councils of the nation; the history, the character, the intelligence, the 
consistent energy, and the considerate perseverance, of your country, 
give me the security that, when the people of Massachusetts raises its 
voice and pronounces its will, that it is not like a girl’s sigh that melts 
in the breeze,— it will carry its aim. 

“I have seen this people’s will in the manifestation of him whom 
the people’s well-deserved confidence has raised to the helm of its 
executive government; I have seen it in the sanction of its senators ; 
I have seen it in the mighty outburst of popular sentiments, and in 
the generous testimonials of its sympathy, as I progressed on this hal¬ 
lowed soil. I hope soon to see it in the legislative hall of your 
representatives, and in the Cradle of American Liberty. 

“I hope to see it so, as I see it now, here, throbbing with warm, 
sincere, generous and powerful pulsation, in the very heart of your 
commonwealth. I know that, where the heart is sound, the whole body 
is sound, the blood is sound throughout all the veins. [Cheers.] The 
warmth of the heart of Massachusetts spreads with magnetic influence 
over my own sad heart; and, thanking God that all these manifesta¬ 
tions of Massachusetts have been reserved to me for the later hours 
of my task, when the flush of excitement has passed, and calm reflec¬ 
tion holds the ground,—I thank God for it, because upon such a man- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


55 


ifestation we can rely. There are principles in it like those of old, by 
which your fathers were inspired, when they took the lead in the strug¬ 
gle for freedom, never faltering, though many others despaired. The 
answer which I will bear to Europe is pointed out to me by the man¬ 
ifestations of Massachusetts. Accept my heartfelt thanks, in the name 
of my people, for it. 

“Being the heart of Massachusetts, 0, let me entreat you to be 
warm like the heart. Never believe to be right those who, bearing 
but a piece of metal in their chests, would persuade you that to be 
cold is to be wise. [Cheers.] Warmth is the vivifying influence of 
the universe, and the heart is the source of noble deeds. To consider 
calmly what you have to do is well. You have done it; you have 
done more,— you have let the thoughts of your mind pass through 
the warm tide of your heart, and that organ has nobly done its work, 
as the present day shows; but let me hope that the heart of Massa¬ 
chusetts will continue to throb warmly for the cause of liberty, till 
that which you judge to be right is done, with that persistent energy 
which, inherited from the Puritan Pilgrims of the Mayflower, is a 
principle with the people of Massachusetts. [Cheers.] Remember 
the afflicted,— farewell! ” 

Tremendous cheering, continued for several minutes after the con¬ 
clusion of this speech, testified the strong impression which it made 
upon the hearers. It was, in fact, delivered throughout with the most 
admirable grace and animation. Kossuth was well aware of the high 
character and intelligence of the people of Worcester county, of their 
steadfast devotion to the principles of freedom; and, feeling sure of his 
audience, could put forth without restraint his utmost powers of ora¬ 
tory. The effect was in some instances very striking. On the plat¬ 
form near him there were some veteran politicians, who, though 
opposed to his doctrines, could not refrain from tears at certain pas¬ 
sages of his speech. 

From the platform on the Common, Kossuth was escorted to his 
quarters at the American House, followed by a dense crowd, who 
repeatedly cheered him as he passed along. He reached the hotel a 
few minutes before seven o’clock, where he supped and gained a little 
repose. 

At about eight o’clock he was waited upon to the City Hall, where 
a dense and most enthusiastic audience assembled to listen to another 
address from him. 


56 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Up to eight o’clock, admission to the hall was limited to those who 
presented a Hungarian bond at the door, by which means a large num¬ 
ber were disposed of. 

At eight o’clock, the state committee, the city government, and 
the committee of arrangements, entered the hall with Kossuth, who 
was received with loud and prolonged cheers, waving of ladies’ hand¬ 
kerchiefs and gentlemen’s hats, and other demonstrations of the most 
hearty and enthusiastic sympathy. The crowds that had been waiting 
outside for his arrival came rushing into the hall, until the great area 
and galleries presented one unbroken sea of eager, intelligent and sym¬ 
pathetic faces. 

General Hay called the meeting to order, and introduced Hon. 
Henry Chapin, ex-mayor of the city, who came forward, amid the loud 
cheering of the people, and said: 

“ Fellow-citizens : We come to-night as freemen to pay our trib¬ 
ute of respect to the great advocate of popular liberty. The sons and 
daughters of the Pilgrims hasten to honor the man who has dared to 
vindicate in a foreign land the principles which the Pilgrims fled to 
establish here. Educated in the spirit of the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence, honoring with our whole souls the men who pledged their 
‘ lives,’ their ‘fortunes,’ and their ‘sacred honor,’ for liberty, we 
but speak out the gushing sentiments of our hearts when we pay our 
homage to those who have sacrificed everything but honor for the 
freedom of their race. 

“We watched the progress of the Hungarian revolution with deep 
and thrilling interest. We saw that brave and patriotic people, ani¬ 
mated by a common enthusiasm, struggling against the combined pow¬ 
ers of Russia and Austria, performing prodigies of valor, and driving 
the despots back, until treason did its shameful work, and Hungary 
was in the dust. We have seen those friends of freedom either in 
chains and slavery at home, or driven into lonely exile away from their 
country and their firesides; and while we have sat under the tree of 
Liberty which our fathers planted in blood and in tears, our hearts 
have swollen with emotions of sympathy for our brethren across the 
wide Atlantic, who, engaged in a contest as pure and noble as our own 
Revolution, have as yet found a destiny so different from ours. 

“ In that great struggle for liberty in Hungary, one man stood forth 
preeminent. In the appeals to the Hungarian people, there was heard 
the voice of one man rousing the masses of his countrymen with the 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


57 


magic of a mysterious eloquence. In exile, captivity and sorrow, the 
form of one man has been surrounded by a halo of glory; one whom 
even the Turkish monarch has dared to protect, against the indignant 
protests of tyranny; one over whom the stars and stripes of our coun¬ 
try have been proud to wave in triumph, and to whom the gathering 
thousands and tens of thousands of the American people rejoice to 
show the reverence which is due to the great and good. That man is 
Louis Kossuth; that man is the guest of this evening! 

“Honored Sir: A committee raised at a large and enthusiastic 
meeting of our citizens, we bid you an earnest and a heartfelt welcome. 
We welcome you to New England, the land of free schools, free 
thought, free speech, and free. men. We welcome you to Massachu¬ 
setts, the home of Warren, and Adams, and Hancock, and Otis. We 
welcome you to the state which boasts of Concord, and Lexington, and 
Bunker Hill. Especially we welcome yoq to this Heart of the Com¬ 
monwealth, this home of well-paid labor, this paradise of mechan¬ 
ics, where the songs of freedom and the hum of cheerful industry 
mingle sweetly together, and where thousands of the hardy sovereigns 
of the country pay their glad homage to your glorious name ! Here, at 
least, you stand in the midst of friends. Strong arms and warm hearts 
are around you. Party, sect and creed, vanish for the moment, like the 
baseless fabric of a dream. The old and the young, the rich and the 
poor, the learned and the ignorant, all catch the inspiration of the hour, 
and hail you with a patriotic welcome. In the humblest dwelling 
amongst us your name and history are as familiar as household words. 
Erom every Christian fireside prayers have ascended for you and your 
unhappy country; and I feel that I express the real sentiments of our 
people, in the wish that the hour may soon come when your father-land 
shall break the yoke of the oppressor, and you be restored to the posi¬ 
tion which the advocates of freedom and progress and popular liberty, 
the world over, have unanimously awarded to* you. 

u I will detain this waiting assembly no longer by remarks of mine, 
but will introduce to them Louis Kossuth, the rightful Governor of 
Hungary.” 

Mr. Chapin sat down amidst thunders of applause. Kossuth then 
rose, when Gen. Day, waving his baton over his head, cried, “ Fellow- 
citizens, nine cheers for Kossuth and Hungary!” These were given 
with a will and power that made the hall tremble. They were caught 
up by the people who filled the streets outside, the sound of whose 


58 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


shouting again called forth the cheers of those within. When silence 
was restored, Kossuth said, turning to Mr. Chapin : 

“I would have been very glad, sir, if you had been pleased, not, as 
you have said, to detain your fellow-citizens, but if you had been 
pleased to continue to express the warm, gushing, generous sympathies 
of their hearts, with your eloquent lips. You are a son of Massachusetts; 
you understand the feelings of your brethren, now assembled to wel¬ 
come me, a poor exile, to your city; and to me nothing can be more 
grateful than to listen to the expression of that generous and sponta¬ 
neous sympathy. I am a stranger to their feelings, speaking in a for¬ 
eign tongue; and therefore I cannot address them in a manner that will 
gratify and interest them. 

11 1 hope the gentlemen will excuse me, if, from my fatigue, and hum¬ 
ble abilities, I am not able to address them as I could wish. I have, 
however, the sense of duty strong in my breast; and I will never 
shrink, nor be too tired to attempt what duty calls upon me to per¬ 
form. [Loud cheers.] 

u 0 ! would that I could speak to you in my own native tongue ! 
Then would I speak to you as I used to speak to my people. There 
is so much to remind me of my old home in all I now see and hear 
around me ! There I was wont to meet such a people as you. I never 
was conscious of deserving a reputation for eloquence; I never felt 
that to me belonged the magic powers of oratory; but, with such a peo¬ 
ple cheering me, I may have sometimes received the inspiration of elo¬ 
quence ; for there is always eloquence in a noble people’s sympathy. 

“ You have been pleased to.say, sir, that in the struggle of Hungary 
with the leagued despots of Austria and Russia one man stood preem¬ 
inent. But I must be just to myself and to my countrymen ; and just¬ 
ice compels me to declare that in that struggle there w T as no preemi-. 
nence. In sacrifices for the cause of Hungary, and in the devotion to 
the principles of freedom, there was no preeminence amongst individ¬ 
ual men. In the whole course of that glorious but fatal contest, the 
people stood preeminent. 0, had you seen the demigods of Hungary, 
as they died with the smiles upon their lips for the father-land, then 
you would have said there was no preeminence, but a common devotion 
in yielding up all for liberty ! 

“ There was a time, in the history of mankind, when, by being in its 
childhood or infancy, a nation’s progress and prosperity depended upon 
men ; when the events of history were controlled by the wishes and 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


59 


acts of persons ; when the whole of humanity was absorbed in indi¬ 
vidualities ; hut, thank God, that time will never come again! The 
progress of civilization has rendered impossible such fatal dependencies. 
The general diffusion of ideas and principles has rescued humanity from 
such precarious dependencies. Nations are now dependent upon prin¬ 
ciples, not upon men. It has been said to me, by one of your eloquent 
fellow-citizens, that the people of Massachusetts never pay any tribute 
to men, but to principles; and thus it is that I, a humble exile, meet 
with such a welcome as I have met to-day. [Cheers.] 

“You have been pleased to say, sir, that I am among friends. Thank 
God for that word! for to me, a homeless exile, there is now no conso¬ 
lation equal to that of friendship. But you are not friends for my sake, 
but for my country’s cause ; and 0, let me assure you that my coun¬ 
trymen are worthy of your friendship. [Loud cheers.] 

“ Gentlemen, in coming to your city, this heart of your good old com¬ 
monwealth, I have observed that on your hills, and in your valleys, 
there still remains a little snow. Well, it is curious to observe what a 
sympathy exists between the physical and moral worlds. In warm cli¬ 
mates, you will notice that vegetation is always in activity, and plants 
spring up with rapidity; but, if a little chill comes, their delicate leaves 
are nipped, and they wither away. So, in those climates, men act 
from warm impulses, that soon pass away with the circumstance that 
excited them; whereas, where snow exists,—for snow, you know, is 
not the emblem of coldness, but is necessary to conserve and invigor¬ 
ate the soil for a good harvest,—it not only vivifies the seed, but ripens 
it. That snow in the moral world conserves the warmth of the heart; 
and such a warmth you have shown me in your snowy climate as I 
never wish to see exceeded. I have seen so much considerate warmth 
here as will enable me to say to my poor, suffering countrymen, that I 
have seen a people representing the principle of republican liberty in 
opposition to the principle of despotism, represented by Czars, trampling 
on freedom, and absorbing nationalities. 

“ If you look to history, you will see that at no period of time have 
the two conditions of nationality — those of republicanism and despot¬ 
ism — been brought to such a crisis as now ; and a short time is to 
decide which must prevail. You cannot remain indifferent to the strug¬ 
gle which is now trembling to an issue, in Europe, between those two 
conditions. Your position and interest, as one of the great nationali¬ 
ties of the world, will force you to participate in this struggle. 

“ You will be constrained either to forsake the position of a power on 


60 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


earth, or to conserve the law of nations, which is the common property 
of nations. When I ask you to proclaim the principles of international 
law, I do not ask you to adopt a new principle or a new line of policy ; 
I only ask you to reiterate the principles and policy expressed by John 
Quincy Adams, in reference to the Argentine Republics, when the 
holy alliance of despots had made preparations to crush those infant 
nationalities. 

“ He said that the United States must take counsel of her duties and 
interests in relation to the acts of the despots towards those states. 
Did that bold course entangle you in foreign alliances and war ? No ! 
it rather prevented w T ar. The bold declaration of a true principle is 
never so likely to entangle you in war as the passive abnegation of your 
position as a power on earth. I have never, in the brightest moments 
of my expectations and hopes, wanted the United States to do any¬ 
thing against her interests. All I have wanted is the declaration of a 
principle which is embodied in her history, and in her very existence as 
a nation and a pow T er on earth. Every American with whom I have 
conversed in his private capacity has declared that he is convinced that 
every nation has a right to choose its own government, and no foreign 
nation has a right to interfere with the fullest freedom of that choice; 
and all I ask of the United States, which is only the aggregation of 
individualities, is to express this conviction to the world. [Cheers.] 
We do not want America to fight our battles. We will fight our own 
battles. [Loud cheers.] We have hearts and hands of our own, to 
defend our rights, and beat back our enemies. [Loud cheers.] What 
we want is to be assured that, as certain as there is a God in heaven 
who watches the destinies of the universe, so is there a mighty nation 
on earth which watches the laws of nations and of Nature’s God. 
[Loud cheers.] 

“ Gentlemen, I have seen in your streets to-day two flags; one 
bearing the superscription £ Terror to Tyrants, Liberty , to the World. 5 
Let me entreat you, gentlemen, to make that superscription not only a 
sentiment, but a fact. [Enthusiastic cheers.] I have the instinctive 
consciousness that the destiny of that American flag is 1 Death to Tyr¬ 
anny, Liberty to the World.’ [Renewed cheering.] The second flag, 
which I saw on the common, was the flag of America, waving proudly 
aver the poor little flag of Hungary. Make the philosophy of those 
flags — the prophecy of them, also— a fact! Let the flag of your coun¬ 
try wave protectingly over my nation’s cause ! [Cheers.] I thank 
yon, gentlemen, from the very heart of my heart, for the welcome you 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


61 


have given me this day; and I hope that, ere long, Europe will prove 
to you that your sympathy has not been bestowed unworthily, and 
will prove, also, that the voice of the people is sometimes the thunders 
of the Almighty.” [Prolonged cheering.] 

At the conclusion of Kossuth’s remarks, Mr. J. L. Myers, in behalf 
of the German citizens, delivered the following address in that lan¬ 
guage : 

“ Governor Kossuth : We are hardly able to express our joy that 
circumstances permit us to welcome you, the true apostle oLliberty and 
human -rights,in behalf of the German residents of this city. We need 
not say with what sympathy and anxiety we looked to the far East, 
where you and your heroic people fought, not only for the liberty of 
Hungary, but for the liberties of the whole human race; where you 
alone appeared as the defender of liberty and law, against the per¬ 
jurious Hapsburgs and the cunning Northern Bear, who united their 
efforts to crush the God-given rights of man. 

“No body of men has more cause to sympathize with the cause of Hun¬ 
gary than the Germans. No body of men has more cause to mourn for 
the fall of Hungary. But we do not despair. While Kossuth lives, we 
feel that the cause of Hungary is not lost. While Kossuth lives, there 
lives in him, and with him, the inspiring hope that the down-trodden 
rights of the European people shall see a glorious resurrection, and 
will find a true defender. 

“It now seems as if the cause of liberty had been lost, through 
treachery and misfortune. But the people will again rise, with reno¬ 
vated strength, for a new trial; and they will again try to throw off 
the yoke of despotism; and, with the help of God, and you to lead them, 
they shall succeed! 

“ Continue, Mr. Governor, to teach the people the true principles 
of self-government, instruct them in the sacred principles of liberty, 
and you will find strong arms and valiant hearts, in every quarter 
of the world, to assist you in the great work you now so nobly prose¬ 
cute, that of raising up the down-trodden human race. 

“ Mr. Governor, accept this token of our regard for your cause. It 
was collected from the few Germans residing in this city. The sum is 
small, but you will receive it as an earnest of our will, which we heart¬ 
ily wigh was equalled by our ability. But we will not trouble you 
more with words. We will only say , 1 Long live Kossuth! ’ May you 
6 


62 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


enjoy the fruits of your eventful life, under the institutions of repub¬ 
lican freedom, in your own land; and may you also enjoy the quiet of 
domestic life in the bosom of your own family, all reunited and pro¬ 
tected by law! ” 

The purse presented to Kossuth by the speaker contained the sum 
of thirty-five dollars, in gold. 

When Mr. Myers had finished his address, and presented the purse, 
Kossuth said, in reply, in the German language the substance of which 
we translate,— 

“My friend, I am worn out and heavy from travelling and speak¬ 
ing, and cannot therefore reply to you with my lips what my heart 
dictates. But, before we part, I only want to express to you two 
things. First, I am not the great man which you suppose me to be. 
Every man is called upon to perform certain duties, and he ought to 
fulfil them; and, if he performs them well, he only does his duty. I 
have only tried to fulfil my mission to the best of my ability; and there¬ 
fore I do not deserve the reverence which you have been pleased to 
accord me. Secondly, I have received great sympathy from Americans, 
during my progress in this country; and I have found, to my great joy 
and consolation, that the Germans have never been behind them in 
heartfelt generosity and sympathy for my country,— for her cause was 
theirs. Again I thank you, in the name of my country.” 

A young Hungarian, who came to America with Kossuth, and is 
now working in one of the machine-shops of Worcester, presented his 
chief with an ingeniously made sword-cane. Kossuth kindly stroked 
the young man’s cheeks, shook him cordially by the hand, and spoke 
words of encouragement to him in his native tongue. He said he was 
glad to see his countrymen exercising their skill here. But, as to that 
instrument, it was not such as he would employ in the coming strug¬ 
gle, because that was made for wounding foes in the back, and he 
liked to meet his, face to face. 

The audience now called for Mr. Hopkins, who made a few remarks, 
which were warmly received. Mr. Burlingame was then called up, and 
spoke as follows. 

MR. BURLINGAME’S SPEECH. 

“Fellow-citizens: I have no words with which to express those 
emotions of sympathy with which our breasts are now swelling; and 
if I should give them voice, I fear, with my friend who has just now 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


63 


taken his seat, that I should not know when or where to end. It is 
charged by some that we propose to change the policy which, they say, 
was established by the great and good Washington. It is not true. 
If what they claim as that policy he indeed the policy of Washington, 
then do we desire to change it. If it be one which is to silence us for¬ 
ever in the councils of the nations, and seal our lips before the world, 
then I care not by whom it was initiated, or when or how long it has 
stood, or by what persons it is now maintained,—it is a policy unworthy 
of a great and free people. [Applause.] But it is not as they claim; 
— that policy was for the exigency of those early times. Why, a 
nation can have no such thing as a fixed policy. It must have fixed 
principles. The eloquent speaker has told us that policy is one thing, 
and principle quite another thing. One takes its hue and form from 
the passing hour ; the other is eternal, and may not be departed from 
with safety. It is because statesmen have failed to make this distinc¬ 
tion that they have gone down under their errors. They have raised 
that wffiich was ephemeral into the dignity of a principle, and clung 
to it long after it had become obsolete. Let us not wrong our fathers 
by believing they intended to chain this nation to the cradle of its 
infancy. Washington himself has told us that his was a temporary pol¬ 
icy, suited to the requirements of the time, but not intended to stand 
as our guide through all eternity. And, standing in the midst of that 
stormy present, and having in memory the bleeding past, and looking 
into the gloom of what seemed a sinister future, he fixed the time 
when he thought that policy would expire. Yes, w r ith no foreknowl¬ 
edge of •what would be the immense and rapid strides of this mighty 
people, he thought, and said, that in twenty years it might have the 
full command of its own fortunes. 

“ And 0, the difference between then and now! The nation was 
scarred with wur, poor, an hundred millions in debt,— not so rich as is 
our own Massachusetts to-day,— scarcely more populous than is now 
the Empire State,— with the whole west about to blaze with battle- 
fires,— party spirit aroused, society unformed, the government untried, 
friendless on sea and on land,— a wilderness everywhere, the states 
but just climbing with feeble step the Atlantic slope, so that from 
Maine to Georgia the wolfs long howl was answered back by the Atlan¬ 
tic’s roar. [Applause.] In such a state of things the policy of neutral¬ 
ity found its sufficient justification. But now, when the republic has 
expanded from sea to sea, when its flag is advancing to the north and 
the south, when the beautiful white wings of its commerce are flutter- 


64 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


ing in every quarter of the globe, and bringing home wealth and victory 
with all the winds of heaven [applause], shall we so wrong the memory 
of the brave men who cleared the way for these glories,—Washington, 
who sought peace through w r ar, Franklin, who subdued thunder and 
tyranny, and John Adams, out of whose head came the Revolution,— 
so wrong these men, I say, as to believe that, if they could once more 
visit the land their valor freed, that they w r ould tell us to trail our ban¬ 
ners over the sea and over the land, and let them no longer stream along 
the shores of the Baltic and the Mediterranean, symbols of unconquered 
liberty in the western world? No, no! they gave their breasts to the 
battle, they struggled through nameless woes, for a place on earth, and 
that their sons might have ‘ power on earth’ to be wielded for liberty 
on whatever doubtful field it might strive. [Applause.] And would 
they not indignantly ask who gave instructions to Commodore Morgan, 
of the Mediterranean squadron, under which he should dare to issue 
those orders by which our gallant officers and seamen are not permitted, 
not only not to talk politics with the Neapolitans, or the people in whose 
waters they may chance to be, but are not allowed to discuss them 
with each other on the shore, or on an American deck ? Who gave him 
authority over the religious or political sentiments of an American 
officer or sailor ? Is it not enough for him that he does his duty 
under the laws ? Why, if w r e cannot maintain our relations with those 
people without subjecting our glorious sailors to such tyranny, I 
would not let our vessels cast their anchors in their waters; no, not 
though a hurricane blew, save to batter down the walls of their tyran¬ 
nical cities! [Applause.] 

“ Who did not feel his cheek crimson with indignation as he learned 
to what position our brave officers of the Mississippi were constrained 
by these orders ? And more, when he learned of the conduct of the 
American consul at Marseilles ? Where, I ask, did he get his right to 
wound the feelings of the nation’s guest on an American deck ? Who 
placed that official under the direction of a miserable French prefect, 
himself the tool of a man who, at that very time, had perjury on his 
lips and treason in his heart? [Applause.] The great exile should have 
found kindness under our flag. It was not his fault, but his glory, that 
his presence awakened the republican heart of France; our flag, had it 
been a true symbol of the principles we profess, would have done the 
same. It is a grievous, burning shame, that Kossuth, when the songs 
of liberty w T ere rising around him, and the peaceful shouts of the people, 
should have been commanded to retire from what his noble presence 
inspired. What American^ proud of his country’s honor, would not 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


65 


have preferred that the Mississippi, with the banner of our hopes float¬ 
ing aloft, should have gone down by her anchors, fighting some great 
battle of liberty, her scuppers running blood, rather than that the 
nation’s guest — guest for such a cause — should not have found the 
fullest protection under a flag which once waved over Perry, and 
McDonough, and Lawrence, and Hull, and Decatur?” [Great ap¬ 
plause.] 

Mr. Burlingame was warmly applauded throughout; and, when he 
sat down, Hon. E. II. Kellogg, of Pittsfield, was called for, and spoke 
as follows: 

“ I pray you, Mr. Chairman, and I pray you, this immense meeting 
of my fellow-citizens, not to expect from me, called up here as I am, 
one-half so full and so satisfactory an expression of the feeling that 
prevails in our hearts here, as we have already had. I rejoice, sir, 
that, under the force of the example of our illustrious guest, and under 
the force of your own teachings, that here, to-night, sect and creed and 
party are all submerged and drowned in the mighty flood of feeling and 
of sympathy extended to the man who is the representative of a well¬ 
deserving country,—that country whose liberties, before all our eyes, 
have been cloven down against the law of nations. Eellow-citizens, I 
could not, to-day, help rejoicing, when I heard our illustrious friend 
here depicting to these great multitudes the wrongs of his country, and 
bespeaking here the sympathies of his fellow-men,—I say, I could not 
but rejoice that there was still upon the face of this earth a great orator 
devoted to liberty ; that he, the martyr of his cause, bruised and torn 
in all but his undying love of liberty, can march with triumphant step 
from one ocean to the other, hailed as the friend of liberty by a whole 
nation. Sir, if we cannot go with our arms to Hungary, and fight the 
Russians, we may, at least, thank God ! extend our sympathy to the 
cause of liberty; and we trust that you bless God that you have this 
expanded field on his earth where you can preach its cause. Let me 
assure you, sir, that your life is not in vain. If God should see fit to 
take you to-day from your family, from your own dear father-land, 
from the world, and leave the Hungarians weeping, like the children 
of Israel by the waters of Babylon, for seventy years, you would not, 
even then, have lived in vain. No, sir; you have taught us a lesson 
in this part of the world, you have taught the whole world a lesson, 
that will not be soon forgotten; and whenever any other nation in the 
world shall assert the principle so beloved by you, and by the whole 
6 * 


66 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


American heart,— the very same principle to which Hungary is 
devoted,— I say, when such a nation shall arise again in its might, 
and achieve its freedom, that before another Russian Czar can inter¬ 
fere with its liberties, you will hear the voice of America in a way that 
will be emphatic [applause], —in a way that will be useful, efficient. 
May God grant it! 

11 Fellow-citizens of Worcester, of the heart of the old Bay State, there 
is cause for this mighty outpouring, this fiery impulse of sympathy, 
that pervades all our breasts. 0 ! fellow-men, suppose our own George 
Washington — our own Revolutionary Kossuth — had not been suc¬ 
cessful in our struggle,— suppose he had been beaten down by treach¬ 
ery that lived with us, or by the intervention of a power more tyranni¬ 
cal even than England,— and suppose he had been hunted in order 
to put a halter round his neck, where in the wide world,— 0, where, 
seventy-five years ago, could Washington have gone, and been received 
and protected by a whole nation ? Yes, and sent home to oppose his 
country’s enemies again, followed by the sympathy, the warm hopes, 
and the bright anticipations, of twenty millions of freemen ? I congrat¬ 
ulate our illustrious friend and guest that he lives in a different hour 
of the world. I have no doubt he is thankful to God for it. I believe 
that the feeling he is awakening in this country, although it may not 
take that direction he has pointed out to an extreme or unsafe distance, 

— to a returnless distance,— yet I believe, fellow-citizens, that it will 
work good, not only for his own country, but for the other struggling 
countries of Europe. I have great faith in the mighty power, the thun¬ 
der, as he well terms it, of American public opinion. Notwithstanding 
many tell us our protestations will be like the idle wind, unheeded, 
who, fellow-citizens, who knows better than Governor Kossuth that 
the Emperor Nicholas watches as closely as any eye in the world 
(except God’s) the movements that follow in the train of his progress 

— the movements of public opinion that follow him in this country and 
elsewhere ? He knows that it is a mighty agent. He knows that our 
illustrious guest is fighting and winning a mightier battle, by gaining 
millions of devotees to his cause, than any that was fought and won 
during the Hungarian war. He is, through the press, spreading an 
intelligent spirit through the oppressed millions of Europe. He is 
informing the bayonets of the common soldiery; and you will see them, 
when the crisis comes, breaking through the trammels of those dynas¬ 
ties of Europe, and arraying themselves in defence of the liberties of 
the people.” [Cheers.] 

After a few words by Mr. Keyes, the meeting closed, at ten o’clock. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


67 


KOSSUTH’S ENTRY INTO BOSTON. 

Kossuth and his suite, with the Legislative Committee, left Worcester 
in a special train, at half-past nine o’clock, on Tuesday morning, April 
27. It was a coincidence not overlooked or unfelt by many of those 
with him, and assuredly not by himself, that the day fixed upon for 
his triumphal entry into the proud and famous metropolis of New 
England was his birth-day, — the day on which he completed his 
fiftieth year. 

He was greeted with many cheers, as he left Worcester. The car 
in which he sat was thickly festooned with American, English and 
Hungarian flags. Previous to leaving, he received a purse of fifty 
dollars from Hon. Alexander De Witt. 

At Westboro’ the cars stopped, the bells were rung, a great con¬ 
course collected, and Rev. Mr. Gage, in behalf of the townsmen, 
presented Kossuth with forty dollars. He replied briefly, and was 
loudly cheered. 

At Eramingham another stop was made, and a large crowd assem¬ 
bled. Hon. Joseph Fuller welcomed Kossuth to the county of Mid¬ 
dlesex, which contained Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Kos¬ 
suth expressed his thanks in a few words. 

At Natick the train stopped, and Kossuth was presented with a 
purse containing sixty-two dollars, by Mr. Ham, the chairman of the 
selectmen of the town. 

At the Brookline crossing Kossuth was received by the Light 
Dragoons, who had been detailed as his escort through Brookline and 
Roxbury. Carriages being in readiness, a procession was formed, 
under the direction of Benj. Stevens, Sergeant at Arms of the Legis¬ 
lature, and the route of march for Boston, through Brookline and 
Roxbury, was immediately taken up. 

Kossuth, accompanied by M. Pulszky, Hon. N. P. Banks, Hon. 
Anson Burlingame, and Austin Williams, Esq., governor’s aid, occupied 
the first carriage. In the second carriage were the ladies of Kossuth’s 
suite, his wife, and Madame Pulszky, accompanied by the wife of Hon. 
E. L. Keyes, and by the Sergeant at Arms. In the carriages that 
followed were the other members of Kossuth’s suite, the Legislative 


68 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Committee, some members of the city government of Worcester, and 
others. 

A short distance from the crossing the procession passed under an 
arch bearing the words, “ Welcome, Kossuth.” 

The road was choked up with foot-people, horsemen and carriages, 
of all descriptions, each and all anxious to get a sight of the Magyar. 
At Brookline a large crowd was collected; and, when the carriage con¬ 
taining Kossuth arrived, lusty cheers were given, which were acknowl¬ 
edged gracefully. 

On the whole route to Roxbury line, the windows were full of ladies, 
who waved their welcome with their handkerchiefs, and the streets were 
literally crammed with people. The cortege did not stop in Roxbury, 
but proceeded on until it had reached the military, who were drawn up 
on the Neck, to the number of thirty-four companies. 

Having passed the military, the procession halted, when the troops 
wheeled into line, and escorted the procession through the city. The 
procession passed through Washington, Boylston, Charles and Beacon 
streets, to the state-house. The crowd in these streets was very great. 
The windows were all full of women and children, and Kossuth was 
frequently called to his feet, to acknowledge the plaudits of the ladies. 

The military marched in the following order : 

Fifth Regiment of Artillery , under command of Col. Cowdin. 

Company C — Washington Artillery, Captain Bulloch. 

Company A — Boston Artillery, Captain T. II. Evans. 

Company D — Roxbury Artillery, Captain Webber. 

Company B — Columbian Artillery, Captain Thompson. 

First Regiment of Light Infantry , under command of Colonel 
C. L. Holbrook. 

Company D — Boston Light Guard, Captain Clark, Jr. 

Company C — Pulaski Guards, Captain Wright. 

Company L — National Guards, Captain Moore. 

Company B — New England Guards, Captain Henshaw. 

Company F — Independent Boston Fusileers, Captain Mitchell. 

Company M — Warren Light Infanty, Lieut. Hall. 

Company H — Winthrop Light Guards, Lieut. Moore. 

Company G — Washington Light Guards, Captain Savory. 

Company E — City Guards, Captain French. 

Company A — Boston Light Infantry, Captain Ashley. 




KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


69 


Fifth Regiment of Infantry , under command of Col. Watson. 

Company C — Lowell Mechanic Phalanx, Captain Palmer. 

Company C—Worcester City Guards, Captain Goodhue, Eighth 
Regiment. 

Company B — Fitchburg Fusileers, Captain Wood, Fourth Regi¬ 
ment. 

Company G — Woburn Phalanx, Captain Grummer, Fourth Regi¬ 
ment. 

Company C — Cambridge City Guards, Captain Meacham, Fourth 
Regiment. 

Company D — National Blues (Lowell), Captain Lesure, Fifth 
Regiment. 

Company H —Wamesit Light Guard, Captain Sargent, Fifth Reg¬ 
iment. 

Company E — Davis Guard (Acton), Capt. Jones, Fifth Regiment. 

Company D — Charlestown City Guards, Captain Sawyer, Fourth 
Regiment. 

Company B — Worcester Light Infantry, Captain Lamb, Eighth 
Regiment. 

Ninth Regiment of Infantry , under command of Col. Colburn. 

Company D — Westminster Guards, Captain Whitman, Seventh 
Regiment. 

Company A — Halifax Light Infantry, Captain Thompson, Third 
Regiment. 

Company A — Winchester Guards, Captain Prince, Seventh Regi¬ 
ment. 

Company D — Richardson Light Guards, Captain Wiley, Seventh 
Regiment. 

Company C — Marblehead Light Infantry, Captain Gregory, Sixth 
Regiment. 

Company I — Lawrence Light Infantry, Captain Wilkins, Seventh 
Regiment. 

Company C — Stoneham Light Infantry, Captain Dike, Seventh 
Regiment. 

Company E — Oakdale Light Infantry, Captain Hosmer, Eighth 
Regiment. 

Company B — Salem Mechanic Light Infantry, Captain White, 
Sixth Regiment. 

Mechanic Riflemen, Captain Adams. 


70 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


The tokens of gladness and welcome along the route were frequent, 
and spoke a sincere feeling. From many a window peeped out the 
words, “Welcome, Kossuth.” Flags were flying at many places, and 
ever and anon the Hungarian tricolor waved its welcome to him whose 
patriotic soul and powerful mind sent it to so many victories. Among 
the buildings decorated were the Albion hotel, which was dressed in 
beautiful taste, with a triumphal arch between the two portions of the 
hotel, bearing the inscription, 

“ Columbia, the Land of Liberty.’* 

The Revere House had floating over it the three flags of Hungary, 
Turkey and the United States. 

The state-house was superbly decorated with banners, arches and 
mottoes, in such profusion as almost to hide it from sight. The entrance 
gate was surmounted by an arch, bearing on its front the following 
inscription: “Washington and Kossuth,— the Occident and 
the Orient.” On the reverse: “ Washington, the Friend of 
Liberty ; Kossuth, the Foe of Despotism.” 

On the steps leading to the state-house were placed two arches, 
and between them the platform on which the reception speeches were 
made. The first of these arches bore the following motto on its front: 
“Religion, Education, Freedom: a Tricolor for the World.” 
On the reverse: “Massachusetts, the Spirit of 1776, — Lex¬ 
ington, Concord, Bunker Hill.” 

The second arch was exceedingly beautiful; the pillars being 
entwined with the tricolor, white, red and blue. Underneath were 
suspended three magnificent wreaths, the whole tastefully entwined 
with evergreen. This arch bore the following : “ Remember there 
is a Community in the Destiny of Humanity.” 

On the key-stone was a beautiful display of flags of all nations, 
furled. 

The columns of the upper piazza were wreathed with tricolor, and 
the state motto stretched across : “Ense Petit Placid am Sub Lib¬ 
ert ate Quietem.” 

In the portico fronting the Representatives’ hall was an equestrian 
figure on a pedestal, underneath which were the words: “ Washing¬ 
ton, the Father of his Country.” 

Over the portico in large capitals were the following : “ Governor 
Kossuth, Welcome to the Capitol of Massachusetts.” 

From the cupola flags and streamers waved in the breeze, and from 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


71 


the corners of the state-house to the corners of the grounds in front 
flags of different nations were suspended. 

The arrangement of these flags was as follows : 

From the state-house to Mount Vernon-street,— American, Eng¬ 
lish, Greek, Egyptian. 

Outer line to Beacon-street,—American, English, French, Turkish, 
Brazilian, Neapolitan, Portuguese, Peruvian. 

Inner line to Beacon-street, — American, Columbian, Austrian, 
Montevidean, Neapolitan, Spanish, Mexican, Turkish. 

State-house to Hancock avenue, — American, English, Austrian, 
Brazilian. 

State-house to outer corner of the avenue, on Beacon-street, — 
American, English, Turkish, Neapolitan, Dutch, Buenos Ayrean, 
Columbian, Portuguese. 

Inner line, same line, — American, English, Tunisian, Papal, Mex¬ 
ican, Greek, Buenos Ayrean. 

On the right of the gateway, — American, Swedish, Danish, Chi¬ 
lian, Peruvian. 

Left of gate, — American, St. George’s Cross, Dutch, Chinese, 
Sardinian. 

Beacon to Park street, — New Grenada, Naples, Chilian, Peruvian, 
Greek, Bayah. 

Beacon to Common, — Spanish, Montevidean, miscellaneous, Uni¬ 
corn, Spanish broad pennant. 

At half past one o’clock, after a progress of two hours and a half, 
through six miles of shouting multitudes, Kossuth was conducted 
by Gen. Wilson, chairman of the Legislative Committee, up the steps 
of the state-house to the platform, where he met Governor Boutwell 
and the members of the Council. Governor Boutwell welcomed him 
to the state in the following speech : 

GOVERNOR BOUTWELL’S SPEECH. 

“ Governor Kossuth : As the voice of the Legislature and people 
of Massachusetts, I welcome you to this capitol to-day. 

“ Your presence brings before us our own past, bitter in its experi¬ 
ence, but glorious in its history. We once had apostles of liberty on 
whose heads a price was set, who were hunted by tyranny from their 
homes, and threatened with expulsion from civilized life. That day of 
oppression and anxiety with us is ended. It introduced a contest for 


72 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


human rights, whose results on this continent you have seen, in the 
extent, character and power, of the American republic. 

“ The people of Massachusetts, inspired by their early history, and 
animated by the impulses of their hearts, greet you as one who has 
nobly served and suffered in the cause of individual freedom and the 
rights of states. Nor will their admiration be limited by any consid¬ 
eration arising from the fate of your country, or the failure of the 
patriotic hopes with which it was inspired. Liberty can never die. 
The generations of men appear and pass away, but the principles and 
aspirations of their nature are immortal. 

“ Despotism is of time. It contains within itself the elements and 
the necessity of decay and death. Fifty years of your eventful life 
are past; but take courage, sir, in the belief that, in the providence 
of God, the moment is near when the light of freedom shall penetrate 
the darkness of European despotism. Then shall your own Hungary 
welcome you to her fields and mountains, to her homes and heart; and 
we will welcome Hungary to the family of republican, constitutional, 
sovereign states. 

11 In the name of the people, I tender to you the hospitalities of a 
commonwealth founded by Exiles and Pilgrims.” 

To this cordial welcome to the capitol of Massachusetts, Kossuth 
replied as follows: 

“I feel deeply sensible of the immense benefit which a happy and 
prosperous people has conferred upon an unfortunate people. Moments 
like the present can only be felt, not spoken. I feel a deep emotion, 
sir. I am not ashamed of it. Allow me only to say that, in taking 
that hand, the hand of the people of Massachusetts, and having listened 
in your voice to the sentiments and feelings of the people of Massachu¬ 
setts, I indeed cannot forbear to believe that humanity has arrived to 
a great turning point in its destinies, because such a sight was never 
yet seen on earth. 

“ Conquerors, triumphant and proud of success, confer honors and 
glory on a poor exile, having nothing to speak for him but his mis¬ 
fortunes. 

“ Sir, the spirit of liberty is lasting ; liberty cannot die, because it 
has become the common sentiment of all humanity. The spirit of 
liberty takes itself wings,— you are happy to be the first-born son of 
that spirit; but we accept our condition just to be one of its martyrs ; 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


73 


and I look with hope, I look with confidence, into the future, because 
that spirit which prepared for the poor exile the present day will be 
recorded in the records of history, and will mark the destiny of 
coming centuries. I cannot speak further. I am proud to have your 
hands in mine. 

“ And be sure, sir, and let your generous people be sure of it, that, 
whatever be our future destiny, we shall never, in our struggles and 
misfortunes and adversities, we shall never forget the generous Gov¬ 
ernor of Massachusetts, and the generous people of Massachusetts, and 
they shall never have reason to regret that we have been honored in 
this immense nation. God Almighty bless you, sir, and bless you all! 

u I take these honors proudly, because I take them not for myself, 
but in the name of my people, in whose name I express my most 
humble, my eternal thanks.” 

After this speech, Kossuth was introduced to several official persons, 
and then the procession was re-formed, and marching through Park, 
Tremont, Court, State, Commercial, South Market streets, to Mer- 
chants-row, Ann, Blackstone, Hanover and Court streets, reached 
the Revere House about half-past two o’clock. Here a collation was 
in readiness for the party. 

In the afternoon Kossuth reviewed the troops on the Common. The 
lines were drawn as usual at the foot of the Common, and the surround¬ 
ing hills were covered with the assembled thousands, like vast swarms 
of human bees. 

The members of the Legislature and Council moved in procession 
from the state-house, and took a position on the side hill within the 
lines, in front of the military. After the troops had been drawn up 
in line on three sides of the field, Kossuth, mounted on a fine Arabian 
charger, and accompanied by Governor Boutwell on an elegant cream- 
colored steed, appeared on the field, and w T as greeted by the thunders 
of the artillery. Attended by General Edmands and staff, they rode 
leisurely in front of the line; and then, passing around in the rear, took 
position in the centre, when the great Hungarian received the salute 
of the companies, as they marched by. 

The review was a very imposing pageant, and was witnessed by fifty 
thousand spectators. Including the Light Dragoons, some one thou¬ 
sand six hundred of the volunteer militia were in the field. The vari¬ 
ety of the glittering uniforms, the brilliant glancing to and fro of the 
several staffs, the cortege of the governor and foreign guest, together 
7 


74 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


with the multitudes who lined the hills and streets around the field, 
presented altogether a spectacle not often surpassed in this country. 

The ceremonies on the Common lasted until sunset. On their con¬ 
clusion, Kossuth was escorted back to the Revere House by the Light 
Dragoons, and the governor by the Cadets to the state-house. 

The day was remarkably pleasant, and many strangers were in town 
to witness the proceedings. Notwithstanding the crowded state of the 
streets, but few accidents occurred. 

In the evening Kossuth dined at the Revere House, as the guest of 
the Legislative Committee. The entertainment was private, and there 
was no report of the proceedings. 

At night there was quite a display of fireworks in front of the 
Revere House, and a large number of persons were collected in Bow- 
doin-square. In answer to their cheers, Kossuth appeared at his 
parlor window, and acknowledged the compliment by bowing, but did 
not speak. 


KOSSUTH AT THE STATE-HOUSE. 

At eleven o’clock, Wednesday morning, April 28th, Kossuth left 
the Revere House, and, escorted by the Independent Cadets, proceeded 
through streets thronged with a dense and excited multitude, to the 
state-house. He first visited the Council-chamber, to pay his respects 
to the Governor of Massachusetts. The meeting w T as not witnessed 
by any reporters, and only a sketch of what occurred can be given. 

Governor Boutwell addressed Kossuth briefly, but an important 
thought was embodied in these brief remarks. He welcomed Kossuth 
to the Council-chamber of the executive government of Massachusetts, 
not only as a representative of freedom in Europe and an advocate of 
republicanism for her people, but as a man whose efforts were import¬ 
ant to America — whose mission had been the means of imparting 
important instruction to the people of the United States. 

Kossuth, in response, said these remarks from his Excellency, in the 
place where he made them, added a new and very important benefit to 
the many he had received in the United States as an advocate for 
national independence. He would be ashamed to claim that, pleading 
his country’s wrongs and asserting her rights, his efforts had instructed 
the people of America upon the nature and greatness of their own 
institutions, or the great blessings of their freedom; but, if the princi- 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


75 


pies he advocated had been extended by means of the press in the 
United States, which had everywhere reported his speeches, and any 
instruction for liberty had been derived from them, it was only because 
there was community in liberty; and it was a necessity for the agita¬ 
tion of liberty in one part of the world to benefit all other parts where 
the rights of man were respected. He proceeded to speak of the great 
necessity of the agitation of liberal principles, that the people of the 
world might learn practically to hate despotism; and then he thanked 
the Governor and Council for the high honor conferred upon him in 
the name of liberty. 

At the conclusion of his reply, he was introduced to the members 
of the Council. Immediately afterward, the door of the Council-cham¬ 
ber leading into the ante-room was opened, and a large number of 
ladies and gentlemen, who had been admitted there on tickets, passed 
“ in review 55 before Kossuth, and were presented to him. During the 
introduction Governor Boutwell stood on his left, the Secretary of 
State on his left, and before him stood the members of his suite,— 
Pulszky, Hajnik, and Captains Kalapsza and Grechenek,— in full 
uniform. 

At twelve o’clock precisely, Kossuth, accompanied by his suite and 
a portion of the State Committee, was conducted from the Council- 
chamber to the Senate-chamber, the floor and lobbies and galleries 
of which were crowded with spectators, most of whom were ladies. 
He was introduced by Hon. Whiting Griswold to General Wilson, the 
President of the Senate, who addressed him thus : 

“ Governor Kosstth : The Senate of this ancient commonwealth 
receives this visit with emotions of the liveliest gratification. I am 
sure I utter the voice of the whole Senate, in bidding you welcome to 
this branch of the Legislature. 

“ The Senate of this commonwealth entertains the most profound 
sympathy with your country in her misfortunes, and for you, her 
exiled leader and champion. The Senate of Massachusetts receives 
you to-day as the representative of Hungary, and the champion of her 
freedom. The voice of the Senate in regard to your father-land, to the 
conduct of the house of Hapsburg, the intervention of the Czar of 
Kussia, your own position as the acknowledged head of your nation, 
and the duty of the republic as one of the nations, has been expressed 
and placed upon the records of the government. Those resolutions 


76 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


may be read by all men, now and in the future; for they utter tbe 
sentiments of the people of Massachusetts. 

“Your gallant nation has failed in its noble struggle for national 
independence. Hungary lies at the feet of the perfidious house of 
Hapsburg. But she will rise again. 

* Truth naked is stronger than falsehood in mail; 

The wrong cannot prosper, the right cannot fail.’ 

“You have laid your hand on the heart of Massachusetts. I trust, 
sir, that heart beats strong and true to freedom and humanity. 

“ The Senate of Massachusetts indulges the hope that your nation 
may soon call you from exile, that you may give her your counsels in 
establishing her nationality and freedom. Having established the free¬ 
dom of your country, like our Washington, may you retire to the 
tpiiet scenes of private life, surrounded by your grateful countrymen, 
in the bosom of your family, in the companionship of your wife, whose 
devotion has cheered your heart, amid the cares of public life, in impris¬ 
onment and exile, and won the sympathy of every manly heart. 

“ When life’s labors are done, its duties all performed, may you be 
cheered by the assurance that you have been true to your native land! 
May your eye, as it looks for the last time on the scenes of earth, see 
your banner —the flag of Hungary — floating in peace and freedom ! 
May your ear drink in the sweet music of the approving voice of your 
people; and may your soul be cheered by the consolation, that when 
your heart ceases forever to beat, it will mingle with the dust of your 
father-land! ” 


kossuth’s speech in the senate. 

“Mr. President and Senators: To be thus received by the 
official representatives of the people of the noble State of Massachu¬ 
setts, is an honor of which any man may justly feel proud. Such a 
moment is worth a lifetime; and it is from the deepest emotions of my 
heart that I appreciate it and thank you for it. But, Mr. President 
and Senators, I have nothing to say here, but to bow with deep respect 
to the representatives of the majesty of the people. 

“ I thank them for their generous welcome, and acknowledge, with 
profound gratitude, the resolutions of this eminent Senate, to which 
you, Mr. President, have referred. Your resolutions are revelations 
of your own brave nation’s destiny. They contain, they embody, the 
principles of your fathers, of hatred to oppression, and sympathy with 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


77 


whomsoever resists it. I recognize in them the indomitable spirit 
which led your glorious ancestors to quit all rather than submit; and, 
after a century and a half more, to fight to the last, rather than sur¬ 
render to tyranny. 

“I recognize in them that energy, unequalled and unparalleled, 
which compelled victory in an unequal contest, and has steadily since 
raised your great country to a like unparalleled height in moral 
majesty and national prosperity, in freedom, and the demonstration of 
capacity in the people for self-government. I recognize that prudent 
sagacity which taught to avoid the commission of error,— that philan¬ 
thropy of a generous, open heart, which induces pity and sympathy 
for the victim of wrong and cruelty, and eager approval of self-absolu¬ 
tion. 

“Now I have laid my hand on the hearts of the people of free Amer¬ 
ica ; and I ask them to take the part of my own oppressed and bleeding 
country. And you know and I know that our cause must succeed. 
Whatever may be the fate of single individual men, the cause of 
liberty must triumph. 

“You, Mr. President, have been kind enough to wish for me, an 
humble laborer in her behalf, a high position in my country, when she 
is disenthralled. My aspiration is not so high. It is my prayer, 
through the generous sympathy of free America, to have the happi¬ 
ness to see my country free, and to enjoy a quiet life in the midst of 
my people, my family, and my friends. And that is all for me that I 
can wish. 

“ And now I know that my coming back to Europe will not be with 
the sign of despondency and despair, but will give hope and confidence 
to millions of hearts that now beat in Hungary with anxiety for sym¬ 
pathy from the people of this great and free and happy land. I have 
the hope to bring over to my suffering fellow-men the assurance of 
your aid and your regard; and be assured their gratitude and admira¬ 
tion will be imperishable. 

“ Mr. President and Senators, once again I thank you for your 
cordial and warm-hearted reception.” 

At the conclusion of Kossuth’s remarks, on motion of Mr. Haze- 
well, the Senate adjourned. 

At half-past twelve o’clock the State Committee was announced to 
the House, and Governor Kossuth made his appearance, in company 
with Mr. Hopkins, of Northampton, chairman of the committee. 

7* 


78 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Mr. Hopkins said: “Mr. Speaker, I have the honor to introduce 
to you, sir, and through you to the House of Representatives, the 
guest of the commonwealth, Governor Kossuth, of Hungary.” 

The members of the House rose during the introduction; and, on 
their resuming their seats, Mr. Banks, the speaker, addressed him as 
follows: 

THE SPEAKER’S ADDRESS. 

“ In the name of the Representatives of the people of Massachusetts, 
sir, I bid you a cordial welcome to their hall of legislation. 

“It is at rare intervals only that individual virtue and capacity so 
distinguish men as to make them proper recipients of public honors. 

“ Your devotion to the cause of liberty and your country; the per¬ 
sonal sacrifices you have been called upon to make in her behalf; the 
energy and skill with which, in the flush of success, you marshalled 
her limited resources in unequal contests; that unshrinking courage 
and confidence with which, amid betrayal of high public trusts, and 
the pangs of overwhelming defeat, you still upheld her honor and her 
flag; the constancy, eloquence and wisdom, with which, in exile, you 
have vindicated her rights, challenge our highest admiration. 

“ To you, in person, the people have spoken their appreciation and 
approval, in language that requires from us no interpretation, with an 
earnestness and warmth that exclude possibility of dissimulation or 
distrust. 

“The people of Massachusetts, sir, appreciate and love the liberty 
they enjoy. They desire the extension of their privileges to their 
brethren of less favored nations. They have full confidence in the 
ultimate triumph of liberty throughout the world. It is with them a 
feeling universal, rather than local. It is confined to no temporary 
division. It is limited to no period of their history. 

“ However they may differ as to methods of averting public evil or 
the attainment of a general good, there is, as to this great end, but one 
hope, but one prayer. It is for liberty ! Whether it come from one 
who, with an easy confidence, trusts to the dispensation of Providence 
and the power of truth for the establishment of the principles you this 
day represent,— toleration among governments, equality and justice 
among men,— or from another, who, with a larger and stronger faith 
in human agencies, looks for a day not far distant, when England shall 
lead the column of republican states in the Old World; when every race 
in Europe shall attain that nationality which is its birthright, and for 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


79 


which it yearns; when every kingdom, like the family in domestic life, 
shall perpetuate an existence of birth, rather than of conquest or des¬ 
potic favor; its rulers, like its flag, the choice of the people, and both 
symbols of their peace, prosperity, and freedom,— that aspiration, that 
prayer, is still everywhere and always for liberty! 

“ We cannot but look with anxiety, with alarm, upon the aggrega¬ 
tion and consolidation of adverse interests and powers, in other quar¬ 
ters of the globe. Still less, sir, were we worthy of that noble 
heritage we have received from God and our fathers, could we receive 
without sympathy and without honors one whose life has been devoted 
to the establishment in such quarters of the principles of government, 
coeval with our existence as a republic, which constitute our national 
strength, and which make individual life sweeter at its close for the 
freedom that has blessed it,— absolute rights of states, unqualified 
liberties of the people. 

“ Accept, sir, for yourself and your companions in exile, our sym¬ 
pathy for your misfortunes, and our warmest wishes for your personal 
welfare; our prayers, and, within the limits of our laws, our individ¬ 
ual cooperation, for the immediate restoration of the independence of 
Hungary. 

“Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: I present to you 
the distinguished statesman of Hungary; the chosen governor of its 
people; the assertor of its rights; the defender of its liberties; its last, 
but still reliable hope,— Governor Kossuth,— the illustrious guest of 
the commonwealth! ” 

kossuth’s speech to the house. 

“In the echo of every step I make on this hallowed ground, in 
every object which meets my eye, in my being received thus as I am, 
and in my standing here thus as I stand, there is such an awful and 
majestic revelation of the most wonderful operation of that Providence 
which rules the destinies of humanity, that my very voice shrinks 
back from falling from my lips, and I feel as if the spirit of coming 
events was whispering into my ears, ( Bow in adoration before the 
finger of God, and follow silently his wink,— man has to be silent 
when history speaks.’ And it is history which speaks. 

“ Who would have thought that the modest vessel which, two hun¬ 
dred and thirty years ago, landed the handful of Pilgrims on Plymouth 
Rock, was fraught with the palladium of the world’s history ? Op- 


80 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


pression drove them from their ancient European home to the wilder¬ 
ness of an unknown world. The Mayflower developed into a tree of 
freedom. Where the wilderness stood, there now a mighty Christian 
nation stands, unequalled in liberty, unequalled in general intelligence 
and general prosperity,— a glorious evidence of mankind’s sovereign 
capacity for self-government. 

“ Oppression drove me from my native land, the battle-field where 
the destinies of Christendom have been decided in former times, and 
the destinies of Christian civilization are to be decided again. Op¬ 
pression drove me from that hallowed, martyred land; and I come an 
exile to the asylum of the oppressed, developed into a home of liberty. 
But I come not to ask an asylum, not to seek a new home. I come 
to claim from the happy sons of the Pilgrim Fathers a brother’s hand 
for the oppressed of the Old World, that the old house where hun¬ 
dreds of millions dwell may not be doomed to become a jail to all those 
millions. And, humble as I am, the cause I plead is great. It is the 
cause of the community in mankind’s destinies; and, because I plead 
that cause, because in my very misfortune there is a principle dear 
to your hearts, you honor the poor exile as no triumpher was hon¬ 
ored yet. You honor the misfortune of my people as no success was 
ever honored. I feel that it is almost presumptuous to say the words, 
‘1 thank you.’ It has something personal in it; it looks as if I had 
the arrogance to think that I have personally a share in the honors I 
meet; and — God knows my heart — that is not the case ! 

“ Massachusetts thus welcoming unfortunate Hungary as it does, 
is a revelation of mankind’s nobility; it is a revelation of the commu¬ 
nity in mankind’s destiny; it is the spirit of liberty opening the book 
of the mysteries of the future, that it may be known to the world what 
it is Hungary has to do, and what it is America will do. Our part is 
the danger and the suffering. We know it; we accept it with firm 
resolution and self-resignation. My land is the emblem of resistance. 
An humble shrub, we stood our place through centuries, and not only 
resisted the hurricane threatening to blast Christianity, but checked 
its course. We will resist the hurricane of despotism, threatening to 
blast the freedom and civilization of the Christian world; and, God 
and America helping, we will check its course. We bear a double 
cross in our arms,— we bear jt in our history. The mountains of 
Hungary, upon which that emblem of martyrdom was planted, are a 
Golgotha; but Golgotha is not the hill of death,— it is the hill of res¬ 
urrection and eternal life, triumphant over the doors of hell. When 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


81 


we had to bear the first cross, a long night of one hundred and eighty 
years lay gloomily over our Golgotha ; and still the day of resurrection 
came. 

“ Now we have to hear the second cross, the night of death will not be 
so long. The stars of America are bright like a sun. It is from this 
place here that they have risen first; it is from that place here that 
they shone first, a sun of consolation and of hope to oppressed human¬ 
ity ; and this place here is so high in moral majesty as that its glorious 
light cannot but spread over the horizon of the Christian world. It is 
not yet three years that Hungary is nailed to the second emblematical 
cross. The number three is ominous in mankind’s history. This is 
our part,— danger, and sufferings, and resurrection. The part you! 
will act is glorious. Oppression drove your Pilgrim Fathers from; 
Europe. The sons of the Pilgrims will send back, in requital — LIB- j 
EBTY! There is justice in divine decrees, and there is logic in his¬ 
tory. The stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone 
of the corner. Hallowed be the name of the mighty God! 

11 Sir, 1 Ense petit placidam sub liber fate quietem ’ is the motto 
of Massachusetts. Algernon Sydney wrote these words; he wrote 
them with that hand which he styled to be hostile to tyrants. Alas, 
poor Sydney! thy motto led thee to the scaffold, to find the mild tran¬ 
quillity of freedom only in the cold grave. But thy martyr blood was 
not spilt in vain. Thy motto, deadly to thee, mortal man, became 
successful reality as an immortal nation. The motto must go around 
the world, and it will. I have a right to say it is mine. There is no 
living man on earth who has more right to say, 1 Manus hoec inimica 
tyrannise I have a right to say the motto is my people’s. There is 
no people on earth which has more right to say that it is determined 
to search with the sword freedom’s mild tranquillity; and it will find 
it. Sydney has died on the scaffold, and Warren on the battle-field. 
They were mortal men, and I am an exile. I may die on the scaffold, 
or on the battle-field. I am a mortal man; but liberty has triumphed 
on Bunker’s Hill, and it will triumph around Buda’s Hill. The 
former was the first battle; the latter will be the last. Out of the i 
martyr blood spilt on Bunker Hill the tree of Freedom arose, spread- i 
ing its mighty branches over a republic of more than twenty millions. 
That tree is overshadowed gloomily by the tree of Russian despotism, 
stretching its branches far beyond its own field. There is no place for 
these two trees on the earth. One must wither, that the other may 
live. The spirit of this necessity moves through the air of free Amer- 


82 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


ica. The instinct of the people and jour far enlightened sagacity are 
aware of it. The welcome you honor me with is a manifestation of a 
principle. I cannot better express my gratitude for it than by pledging 
my people’s word that, Massachusetts may rely upon it, Hungary will 
do her duty for the spreading of the triumph of those principles which 
inspired your approbation and your encouragement to the people of 
Hungary, in honoring its cause in its exiled chief.” 

This speech, delivered as it was with consummate grace and energy, 
was listened to with the utmost attention, and made a profound and most 
favorable impression on the House. At its conclusion, on motion of 
Mr. Hopkins, of Northampton, the House took a recess of half an 
hour, and were conducted by divisions to the room whither Kossuth 
had retired, and were there introduced to him. 

After the presentation ceremonies were finished, the House, on 
motion of Mr. Warren, of Boston, adjourned to the next day. Next 
day, on motion of Mr. Nettleton, of Chicopee, the House, by unani¬ 
mous vote, ordered the address of the Speaker and the reply of Kos¬ 
suth to be entered on the journal. 


KOSSUTH IN FANEUIL HALL. 

It had been announced that Kossuth would speak in Faneuil Hall 
on Thursday evening, April 29, and that no one should be admitted 
to the hall who could not exhibit a Hungarian bond to the doorkeep¬ 
ers. The hour assigned for the opening of the meeting was eight 
o’clock. But, as there was no means of knowing the number of Hun¬ 
garian bonds in possession of the people of Boston and its vicinity, 
great solicitude was felt by many who were supplied with bonds lest 
they should fail of getting in. Hours before the opening, the crowd 
began to assemble; and, when the doors were opened at six o’clock, it 
had become so densely packed in the street before the hall that there 
was no moving through it, and some ladies fainted before the 
pressure was relieved by admission. By seven o’clock the hall had 
become filled, and the pressure at the centre was uncomfortably severe. 
Few larger audiences ever gathered in Faneuil Hall, and probably none 
so remarkable for intelligence and character. There was an unusual 
proportion of ladies, who not only occupied a large part of the galle- 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


88 


ries, but much of the space beneath the galleries, and to some extent 
mingled with the crowd in the centre. 

The time was whiled away good-humoredly, by appropriate cheers 
and exclamations, and by calling on various speakers — generally in 
vain. Senator Myron Lawrence, however, responded to a loud call, 
and handsomely excused himself from a speech, with a high compliment 
to the speaker who was expected. At a later period he stepped for¬ 
ward again on the platform, and said that he had some sins to confess 
on this occasion. He had been guilty of thinking of late, with some 
others, that the person who was to address us was what is called a 
humbug. But he had seen him, and he now thought differently. He 
now believed him to be a true advocate of his country’s cause, and of 
human liberty.. He had seen the honest tear stand in his eye. He 
had seen the modest, truthful bearing of the man,—that he had no tricks 
of the orator, but spoke straight-forward,—and now he gave it up. 
He now believed him to be sincere in his professions, and honest in his 
sentiments ; and he prayed Almighty God to grant him a glorious suc¬ 
cess. This frank and manly acknowledgment, so honorable to Mr. 
Lawrence, was received w T ith unanimous and hearty applause, and put 
the meeting in the best possible humor. 

At a few minutes before eight o’clock, Senator Alden, of the Legis¬ 
lative Committee, announced the officers selected for *the meeting as 
follows: 

President — His Excellency, Governor George S. Boutwell. 

Vice-presidents — His Honor, Lieutenant-governor Henry W. 
Cushman; Col. William Schouler, of Boston; Hon. Stephen C. Phil¬ 
lips, of Salem; Abner Curtis, of East Abington; Charles G. Greene, 
of Boston: Hon. E. H. Kellogg, of Pittsfield; Hon. Moses Wood, of 
Fitchburg ; Hon. Myron Lawrence, of Belchertown ; lion. Charles C. 
Haze well, of Concord ; and Samuel May, of Boston. 

Secretaries — John Milton Earle, of Worcester; Henry L. Dawes, 
of Adams; George Koberts, of Boston; and John J. Baker, of 
Beverly. 

At eight o’clock Kossuth arrived. With considerable difficulty a 
passage was opened for him. and for the officers and committee, 
who, escorting the distinguished guest through the crowd, now came 
forward, and took their seats. The moment Kossuth reached the 
stage, there was a prolonged tempest of applause, with waving of hats 
and kerchiefs like a whirlwind. When silence was restored, Governor 
Boutwell took the platform, and addressed the audience. 


84 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


GOVERNOR BOUTWELL’S SPEECH. 

“ Gentlemen : We have come from the exciting and majestic scenes 
of the reception which the people of Massachusetts have given to the 
exiled son of an oppressed and distant land, that, on this holy spot, 
associated in our minds with the eloquence, the patriotism, the virtue 
of the Revolution, we may listen to his sad story of the past, and con¬ 
template his plans and hopes for the future. And shall these associa¬ 
tions which belong to us, and this sad story which belongs to human¬ 
ity, fail to inspire our souls and instruct our minds in the cause of 
freedom ? Europe is not like a distant ocean, whose agitations and 
storms give no impulse to the wave that gently touches our shore. 
The introduction of steam power and the development of commercial 
energy are blending and assimilating our civilities and institutions. 
Europe is nearer to us in time than the extreme parts of this country 
are to each other. As all of us are interested in the prevalence of the 
principles of justice among our fellow-men, so as a nation are we inter¬ 
ested in the prevalence of the principles of justice among the nations 
and states of Europe. 

“Never before was the American mind so intelligently directed to 
European affaifs. We have not sought, nor shall we seek, the con¬ 
trol of those affairs. But we may scan and judge their character, and 
prepare ourselves for the exigencies of national existence to which we 
may be called. I do not hesitate to pronounce the opinion that the 
policy of Europe will have a visible effect upon the character, power 
and destiny, of the American republic. That policy, as indicated by 
Russia and Austria, is the work of centralization, consolidation and 
absolutism. American policy is the antagonist of this. 

“We are pledged to liberty and the sovereignty of states. Shall a 
contest between our own principles and those of our enemies awaken 
no emotion in us ? 

“We believe that government should exist for the advantage of the 
individual members of the body politic, and not for the use of those 
who, by birth, fortune, or personal energy, may have risen to positions 
of power. 

“ We recognize the right of each nation to establish its own institu¬ 
tions, and regulate its own affairs. 

“ Our Revolution rests upon this right, and otherwise is entirely inde¬ 
fensible. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


85 


11 The policy of this nation, as well foreign as domestic, should be con¬ 
trolled by American principles, that the world may know we have 
faith in the government we have established. 

“ While we cannot adopt the cause of any other people, or make the 
quarrels of European nations our own, it is our duty to guard the 
principles peculiar to America, as well as those entertained by us in 
common with the civilized world. 

“ One principle, which should be universal in states, as among indi¬ 
vidual men, is, that each should use his oivn in such a way as not to 
injure that which belongs to another . 

“ Russia violated this principle when she interfered in the affairs of 
Hungary, and thus weakened the obligations of other states to respect; 
the sovereignty of the Russian empire. 

“The independent existence of the continental states of Europe is of 
two-fold importance to America. Important politically, important 
commercially. 

“ As independent states, they deprive Russia, the central and absorb¬ 
ing power of Europe, of the opportunity on the Mediterranean to inter¬ 
fere in the politics and civilities of this continent. Russia and the 
United States are as unlike as any two nations which ever existed. If 
Russia obtains control of Europe by the power of arms, and the United 
States shall retain this continent by the power of its principles, war 
will be inevitable; as inevitable as it was in forn^r days that war 
should arise between Carthage and Rome,— Carthage, which sought 
to extend her power by commerce, and Rome, which sought to govern 
the world by the sword. The independence of the states of Europe is, 
then, the best security for the peace of the world. If these states 
exist, it must be upon one condition only — that each state is permit¬ 
ted to regulate its own affairs. If the voice of the United States and 
Great Britain is silent, will Russia allow these states to exist upon this 
principle ? Has she not already partitioned Poland, menaced Tur¬ 
key, divided with the Sultan the sovereignty of Wallachia, infused 
new energy into the despotic councils of Austria, and finally aided her 
in an unholy crusade against the liberties of Hungary ? Have we not, 
then, an interest in the affairs of Europe 1 And, if we have an inter¬ 
est, ought we not to use the rights of an independent state for its pro¬ 
tection ? 

“ The second consideration is commercial. 

“ Centralization, absolutism, destroy commerce. The policy of Rus¬ 
sia diminishes production, and limits markets. Whenever she adds a 
8 


86 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


state to her dominions, the commerce of the world is diminished. Great 
Britain and the United States, which possess three-fourths of the com¬ 
mercial marine of the globe, are interested to prevent it. Our com¬ 
merce at this moment with despotic states is of very little importance, 
and history shows that in every age commerce has flourished in pro¬ 
portion to the freedom of the people. 

11 These, gentlemen, are poor words and barren thoughts upon the 
great European question of the time,— a question which America in 
her own name, and for herself, must meet at some future day, if now 
she shall fail to meet it firmly, upon well-settled principles of national 
law, for the protection and assistance of other states. 

“1 have done. The exiled patriot shall speak for himself. Not for 
himself only, nor for the land and people of Hungary he loves so well, 
but for Europe and America even, he speaks. Before you he pleads 
your own cause. It is to a just tribunal I present a noble advocate. 
And to him it shall be a bright spot, in the dreary waste of the exile’s 
life, that to-night he pleads the cause of Hungary and humanity where 
once Otis, and Adams, and Hancock, and Quincy, pleaded the cause of 
America and liberty. 

“ Gentlemen, I present to you Governor Kossuth, of Hungary.” 

t 

Kossuth came forward upon the platform, and was received with 
nine thundering queers. He w T as dressed in his fine Hungarian cos¬ 
tume, with a sword ; and spoke from notes, in so distinct a voice that 
the first syllable he uttered was heard in the remotest corner of that 
vast hall. Notwithstanding the disadvantage of the notes, and of 
speaking in a tongue foreign to him, he held the attention of the 
crowded and physically suffering assembly most perfectly till the last 
word, which all seemed to feel had come too soon. The Common¬ 
wealth says: “ We can only account for the quiet and interested 
attention of a Faneuil Hall audience to a read speech, in a foreign 
accent, by the exquisite, and, we might say, aromatic deliciousness of 
the style, and the triumphant force of the thought. It swayed the 
mind like inspiration.” 

kossuth’s speech in faneuil hall. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen: Do me the justice to believe that I 
rise not with any pretension to eloquence, within the Cradle of Amer¬ 
ican Liberty. If I were standing upon the ruins of Prytaneum, and 





KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


87 


had to speak whence Demosthenes spoke, my tongue would refuse to 
obey, my words would die away upon my lips, and I would listen to 
the winds, fraught with the dreadful realization of his unheeded proph¬ 
ecies. 

“ Spirit of American eloquence, frown not at my boldness, that I 
dare abuse Shakspeare’s language in Faneuil Hall! It is a strange 
fate, and not my choice. 

“ My tongue is fraught with a down-trodden nation’s wrongs. The 
justice of my cause is my eloquence; but misfortune may approach 
the altar whence the flame arose which roused your fathers from deg¬ 
radation to independence. I claim my people’s share in the benefit of 
the laws of nature, and of nature’s God. I will nothing add to the 
historical reputation of these walls; but I dare hope not to sully them, 
by appealing to those maxims of truth, the promulgation of which 
made often tremble these walls, from the thundering cheers of free¬ 
men, roused by the clarion sound of inspired oratory. 

“ £ Cradle of American Liberty ! ’ —it is a great name ; but there 
is something in it which saddens my heart. You should not say, 
1 American Liberty .’ You should say, ‘ Liberty in America .’ Lib¬ 
erty should not be either American or European,— it should be just 
i Liberty .’ God is God. He is neither America’s God nor Europe’s 
God; he is God. So should liberty be. 1 American Liberty ’ has 
much the sound as if you would say, 1 American privilege.’ And 
there is the rub. Look to history, and, when your heart saddens at 
the fact that liberty never yet was lasting in any corner of the world, 
and in any age, you will find the key of it in the gloomy truth, that 
all who yet were free regarded liberty as their privilege, instead of 
regarding it as a principle. The nature of every privilege is exclu¬ 
siveness ; that of a principle is communicative. Liberty is a principle, 
— its community is its security,— exclusiveness is its doom. 

“What is aristocracy? It is exclusive liberty; it is privilege; 
and aristocracy is doomed, because it is contrary to the destiny and 
welfare of man. Aristocracy should vanish, not in the nations, but 
also from amongst the nations. So long as that is not done, liberty 
will nowhere be lasting on earth. It is equally fatal to individuals as 
to nations, to believe themselves beyond the reach of vicissitudes. To 
this proud reliance, and the isolation resulting therefrom, more victims 
have fallen than to oppression by immediate adversities. You have 
prodigiously grown by your freedom of seventy-five years; but what 
is seventy-five years to take for a charter of immortality ? No, no ! 


88 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


my humble tongue tells the records of eternal truth. A privilege never 
I can be lasting. Liberty restricted to one nation never can be sure. 

: You may say, £ We are the prophets of God; ’ but you shall not say, 
! ‘God is only our God.’ The Jews have said so, and the pride of 
Jerusalem lies in the dust. Our Saviour taught all humanity to say, 
l Our Father in heaven ; ’ and his Jerusalem is lasting to the end of 
days. 

“ £ There is a community in mankind’s destiny.’ That was the 
greeting which I read on the arch of welcome on the Capitol Hill of 
Massachusetts. I pray to God the republic of America would weigh 
the eternal truth of those words, and act accordingly. Liberty in 
America would then be sure to the end of time. But if you say 
£ American Liberty,’ and take that grammar for your policy, I dare say 
the time will yet come when humanity will have to mourn over a new 
j proof of the ancient truth, that without community national freedom 
is never sure. You should change £ American Liberty ’ into £ Lib- 
| ertyj — then liberty would be forever sure in America, and that which 
I found a cradle in Faneuil Hall never would find a coffin through all 
: coming days. I like not the word cradle connected with the word 
^-liberty,— it has a scent of mortality. But these are vain words, I 
know; though in the life of nations the spirits of future be marching 
in present events, visible to every reflecting mind, still those who fore¬ 
tell them are charged with arrogantly claiming the title of prophets, 
and prophecies are never believed. However, the cradle of American 
liberty is not only famous from the reputation of having been always 
the lists of the most powerful eloquence; it is still more conspicuous 
for having seen that eloquence attended by practical success. To 
understand the mystery of this rare circumstance, a man must see the 
people of New England, and especially the people of Massachusetts. 

££ In what I have seen of New England, there are two things the 
evidence of which strikes the observer at every step,— prosperity and 
intelligence. I have seen thousands assembled, following the noble 
impulses of generous hearts; almost the entire population of every 
city, of every town, of every village, where I passed, gathered around 
me, throwing the flowers of consolation in my thorny way. I can say 
I have seen the people here, and I have looked at it with a keen eye, 
sharpened in the school of a toilsome life. Well, I have seen no{ a sin¬ 
gle man bearing mark of that poverty upon himself which in old 
Europe strikes the eye sadly at every step. I have seen no ragged 
poor; I have seen not a single house bearing the appearance of deso- 




KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


89 


lated poverty. The cheerfulness of a comfortable condition, the result 
of industry, spreads over the land. One sees at a glance that the 
people work assiduously,— not with the depressing thought just to get 
from day to day, by hard toil, through the cares of a miserable life, 
but they work with the cheerful consciousness of substantial happi¬ 
ness. And the second tiling which I could not fail to remark is the 
stamp of intelligence impressed upon the very eyes and outward 
appearance of the people at large. I and my companions have seen 
that people in the factories, in the work-shops, in their houses and in 
the streets, and could not fail a thousand times to think 1 how intelli¬ 
gent that people looks.’ It is to such a people that the orators of 
Faneuil Hall had to speak, and therein is the mystery of their success. 
They were not wiser than the public spirit of their audience, but they 
were the eloquent interpreters of the people’s enlightened instinct. 

“ No man can force the harp of his own individuality into the peo¬ 
ple’s heart; but every man may play upon the chords of his people’s 
heart, who draws his inspiration from the people’s instinct. Well, I 
thank God for having seen the public spirit of the people of Massachu¬ 
setts bestowing its attention to the cause I plead, and pronouncing its 
verdict. After the spontaneous manifestations of public opinion which 
I have met in Massachusetts, there can be not the slightest doubt that 
his Excellency the high-minded Governor of Massachusetts, when he 
wrote his memorable address to the Legislature,—the joint committee of 
the Legislative Assembly, after a careful and candid consideration of the 
subject, not only concurring in the views of the executive government, 
but elucidating them in a report, the irrefutable logic and elevated 
statesmanship of which will forever endear the name of Hazewell to 
oppressed nations, and the Senate of Massachusetts adopting the reso¬ 
lutions proposed by the Legislative Committee, in respect to the ques¬ 
tion of national intervention,— I say the spontaneous manifestation 
of public opinion leaves not the slightest doubt that all these executive 
and legislative proceedings, not only met the full approbation of the 
people of Massachusetts, but w r ere, in fact, nothing else but the solemn 
interpretation of that public opinion of the people of Massachusetts. A 
spontaneous outburst of popular sentiments tells often more in a single 
word than all the skill of elaborate eloquence could. I have met that 
word. 4 We worship not the man ) but we worship the principle ,’ 
shouted out a man in Worcester, amidst the thundering cheers of a 
countless multitude. It was a word like those words of flame, spoken in 
Faneuil Hall, out of which liberty in America was born. That word 


90 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


is a revelation that the spirit of eternal truth and of present exigencies 
moves through the people’s heart. That word is teeming with the 
destinies of America. 

“ Would to God that, in the leading quarters, small party consider¬ 
ations should never prevent the due appreciation of the people’s instinct¬ 
ive sagacity ! It is with joyful consolation and heartfelt gratitude I 
own that of that fear I am forever relieved in respect to Massachu¬ 
setts. Once more I have met the revelation of the truth that the 
people of Massachusetts worship principles. I have met it on the 
front of your Capitol, in those words raised to the consolation of the 
oppressed world, by the constitutional authorities of Massachusetts, to 
the high heaven, upon an arch of triumph,— c Remember that there 
is a community in mankind’s destiny .’ 

11 1 cannot express the emotion I felt when, standing on the steps of 
your Capitol, these words above my head, the people of Massachusetts 
tendered me its hand in the person of its chief magistrate. The 
emotion which thrilled through my heart was something like that Laz¬ 
arus must have felt when the Saviour spoke to him ‘ rise ; ’ and when 
I looked up with a tender tear of heartfelt gratitude in my eyes, I saw 
the motto of Massachusetts all along the Capitol, 1 We seek with the 
sword the mild quietness of liberty.'’ 

11 You have proved this motto not to be an empty word. The heroic 
truth of it is recorded in the annals of Eaneuil Hall, it is recorded 
on Bunker Hill, recorded in the Declaration of Independence. 

“ Having read that motto, coupled with the acknowledgment of the 
principle that there is a community in the destiny of all humanity, I 
know what answer I have to take to those millions who look with pro¬ 
found anxiety to America. 

“ Gentlemen, the Mahometans say that the city of Bokhara 
receives not light from without, but is lustrous with its own light. I 
don’t know much about Bokhara; but so much I know, that Boston 
is the sun whence radiated the light of resistance against oppression. 
And, from what it has been my good fortune to experience in Boston, 
I have full reason to believe that the sun which shone forth with such 
a bright lustre in the days of oppression has not lost its lustre by 
freedom and prosperity. Boston is the metropolis of Massachusetts, 
and Massachusetts has given its vote. It has given it after having, 
with the penetrating sagacity of its intelligence, looked attentively 
into the subject, and fixed with, calm consideration its judgment there¬ 
about. After having had so much to speak, it was with infinite grat- 


KOSSTJTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


91 


ification I heard myself addressed in Brookfield, Framingham, and 
several other places, with these words, c We know your country’s his¬ 
tory ; we agree with your principles; we want no speech; just let us 
hear your voice, and then go on; we trust and wish you may have 
other things to do than speak.’ 

“ Thus having neither to tell my country’s tale, because it is known, 
nor having to argue about principles, because they are agreed with, I 
am in the happy condition of being able to restrain myself to a few 
desultory remarks about the nature of the difficulties I have to contend 
with in other quarters, that the people of Massachusetts may see upon 
what ground those stand who are following a direction contrary to the 
distinctly pronounced opinion of Massachusetts, in relation to the cause 
I plead. _ 

“ Give me leave to mention that, having had an opportunity to con¬ 
verse with leading men of the great political parties, which are on the 
eve of an animated contest for the presidency— (would it had been 
possible for me to have come to America either before that contest was 
engaged, or after it will be decided! I came, unhappily, in a bad hour), 
— I availed myself of that opportunity to be informed about what are 
considered to be the principal issues in case the one or the other party 
carries the prize; and, indeed, having got the information thereof, I 
could not forbear to exclaim, 1 But, my God! all these questions 
together cannot outweigh the all-overruling importance of foreign pol¬ 
icy ! ’ It is there, in the question of foreign policy, that the heart of 
the next future throbs. Security and danger, developing prosperity, 
and its check, peace and war, tranquillity and embarrassment,— yes, 
life and death will be weighed in the scale of foreign policy! It is 
evident things are come to the point where they have been in ancient 
Rome, when old Cato never spoke privately or publicly about whatever 
topic, without closing his speech with these words: ‘ However , my 

opinion is that Carthage must be destroyed ; ’—thus advertising 
his countrymen that there was one question outweighing in importance 
all other questions, from which public attention should never for a 
moment be withdrawn. 

“ Such, in my opinion, is the condition of the world now. Carthage !. 
and Rome had no place on earth together. Republican America and all- 
overwhelming Russian absolutism cannot much longer subsist together 
on earth. Russia active,— America passive,— there is an immense j 
danger in that fact; it is like the avalanche in the Alps, which the 
noise of a bird’s wing may move and thrust down with irresistible 


92 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


force, growing every moment. I cannot but believe it were highly 
time to do as old Cato did, and finish every speech with these words : 

‘ However , the law of nations should he maintained, and abso¬ 
lutism not permitted to become omnipotent .’ 

11 1 could not forbear to make these remarks; and the answer I got 
was, 1 That is all true, and all right, and will be attended to when 
the election is over; but, after all, the party must come into power, 
and you know there are so many considerations,— men want to be 
managed, and even prejudices spared, and so forth.’ 

“ And it is true; but it is sorrowful that it is true. That reminds 
me of what, in Schiller’s Maria Stuart, Mortimer says to Lord 
Leicester, the all-mighty favorite of Elizabeth: 4 O God , what little 
steps has such a great lord to go at this court! ’ There is the 
first obstacle I have to meet with. This consolation, at least, I have, 
that the chief difficulty I have to contend with is neither lasting, nor 
an argument against the justice of my cause, or against the righteous¬ 
ness of my principles. Just as the calumnies by which I am assailed 
can but harm my own self, but cannot impair the justice of my coun¬ 
try’s cause, or weaken the propriety of my principles,— so that diffi¬ 
culty, being just a difficulty and no argument, cannot change the public 
opinion of the people, which always cares more about principles than 
about wire-pullings. 

“The second difficulty I have to contend with is rather curious. 
Many a man has told me that, if I had only not fallen into the hands of 
the abolitionists and free-soilers, he would have supported me; and, 
had I landed somewhere in the south, instead of New York, I w T ould 
have met quite different things from that quarter; — but, being sup¬ 
ported by the free-soilers, of course I must be opposed by the south. 
On the other side, I received a letter from which I beg leave to quote 
a few lines: 

“ 1 You are silent on the subject of slavery. Surrounded as you 
have been by slaveholders ever since you put your foot on English 
soil, if not during your whole voyage from Constantinople,— and ever 
since you have been in this country surrounded by them, whose threats, 
promises and flattery, make the stoutest hearts succumb,— your posi¬ 
tion has put me in mind of a scene described by the apostle of Jesus 
Christ, when the devil took him up into a high mountain,’ &c. &c. 

“ Now, gentlemen, thus being charged from one side with being in 
the hands of abolitionists, and from the other side with being in the 
hands of the slaveholders, I indeed am at a loss what course to take, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


93 


if these very contradictory charges were not giving me the satisfaction 
to feel that I stand just where it is my duty to stand, on a truly 
American ground. 

“I must beg leave to say a few words in that respect; the more, 
because I could not escape vehement attacks for not committing myself 
even in that respect, with whatever interior party question. I claim 
the right for my people to regulate its own domestic concerns. I claim 
this as a law of nations, common to all humanity; and because common 
to all, I claim to see them protected by the United States, not only 
because they have the power to defend what despots dare offend, but 
also because it is the necessity of their position to be a power on earth, 
which they would not be, if the law of nations can be changed, and the 
general condition of the world altered, without their vote. Now, that 
being my position and my cause, it would be the most absurd incon¬ 
sistency, if I would offend that principle which I claim and which I 
advocate. 

“And 0, my God, have I not enough sorrows and cares to bear on 
these poor shoulders ? Is it not astonishing that the moral power of 
duties, and the iron will of my heart, sustain yet this shattered frame ? 
that I am desired yet to take up additional cares ? If the cause I 
plead be just, if it be worthy of your sympathy, and at the same time 
consistent with the impartial considerations of your own moral and 
material interests,— which a patriot never should disregard, not even 
out of philanthropy,—then why not weigh that cause with the scale of 
its own value, and not with a foreign one ? Have I not difficulties 
enough to contend with, that I am desired to increase them yet with 
my own hands ? Father Mathew goes on preaching temperance, and 
he may be opposed or supported on his own ground; but who ever 
imagined opposition to him because, at the same time, he takes not into 
his hands to preach fortitude or charity? And, indeed, to oppose or to 
abandon the cause I plead, only because I mix not with the agitation 
of an interior question, is a greater injustice yet, because to discuss the 
question of foreign policy I have a right. My nation is an object of 
that policy; we are interested in it; but to mix with interior party 
movements I have no right, not being a citizen of the United States. 

“ The third difficulty which I meet, so far as I am told, is the oppo¬ 
sition of the commercial interest. I have the agreeable duty to say 
that this opposition, or rather indifference, is only partial. I have met 
several testimonials of the most generous sympathy from gentlemen 
of commerce. But if, upon the whole, it should be really true that 


94 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


there is more coolness, or even opposition, in that quarter than in 
others, then I may say that there is an entire misapprehension of the 
true commercial interests in it. I could say that it would be strange 
to see commerce, and chiefly the commerce of a republic, indifferent to 
the spread of liberal institutions. That would be a sad experience, 
teeming with incalculable misfortunes, reserved to the nineteenth cen¬ 
tury. Until now, history has recorded that 1 commerce has been the 
most powerful locomotive of principles, and the most fruitful ally of 
civilization, intelligence, and of liberty. 7 It was merchants whose 
names are shining with immortal lustre from the most glorious pages 
of the golden books of Venice, Genoa, &c. Commerce, republican 
commerce, raised single cities to the position of mighty powers on earth, 
and maintained them in that proud position for centuries; and surely it 
was neither indifference nor opposition to republican principles by 
which they have thus ennobled the history of commerce and of human¬ 
ity. I know full well that, since the treasures of commerce took their 
way into the coffers of despotism, in the shape of eternal loans, and 
capital began to speculate upon the oppression of nations, a great 
change has occurred in that respect. 

“But, thanks to God, the commerce of America is not engaged in 
that direction, hated by millions, cursed by humanity! Her commerce 
is still what it was in former times, the beneficent instrumentality of 
making mankind partake of all the fruits and comforts of the earth, 
and of human industry. Here it is no paper speculation upon the 
changes of despotism; and, therefore, if the commercial interests of 
republican America are considered with that foresighted sagacity, 
without which there is no future and no security in them, I feel 
entirely sure that no particular interest can be more ambitious to see 
absolutism checked and freedom and democratic institutions developed 
, in Europe than the commerce of republican America, It is no ques¬ 
tion of more or less profit; it is a question of life and death to it. 
Commerce is the heel of Achilles, the vulnerable point of America. 
Thither will, thither must be aimed the first blow of victorious abso¬ 
lutism ; the instinct of self-preservation would lead absolutism to strike 
, that blow, if its hatred and indignation would not lead to it. Air is 
| not more indispensable to life, than freedom and constitutional govern- 
i ment in Europe to the commerce of America. 

“Though many things which I have seen have, upon calm reflec¬ 
tion, induced me to raise an humble word of warning against materi¬ 
alism, still I believe there was more patriotic solicitude than reality in 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


95 


the fact that Washington and John Adams, at the head of the war 
department, complained of a predominating materialism (they styled it 
avarice), which threatened the ruin of America. I believe that com¬ 
plaint would, even to-day, not be more founded than it was in the 
infant age of your republic ; still, if there be any motive for that com¬ 
plaint of your purest and best patriots,— if the commerce of America 
would know, indeed, no better guiding star than only the momentary 
profit of a cargo just floating over the Atlantic,—I would be even then 
at a loss how else to account for the indifference of the commerce of 
America in the cause of European liberty, than by assuming that it 
is believed the present degraded condition of Europe may endure, if 
only the popular agitations are deprived of material means to disturb 
that which is satirically called tranquillity. 

11 But such a supposition would, indeed, be the most obnoxious, the 
most dangerous fallacy. As the old philosopher, being questioned how 
he could prove the existence of God, answered, 1 by opening the eyes 
just so, nothing is necessary but to open the eyes, in order that men 
of the most ordinary common sense become aware of it, that the pres¬ 
ent condition of Europe is too unnatural, too contrary to the vital 
interests of the countless millions, to endure even for a short time. A 
crisis is inevitable ; no individual influence can check it; no indiffer¬ 
ence or opposition can prevent it. Even men like myself, concentrating 
the expectations and confidence of oppressed millions in themselves, have 
only just enough power, if provided with the requisite means, to keep 
the current in a sound direction, so that in its inevitable eruption it may 
not become dangerous to social order, which is indispensable to the secu¬ 
rity of person and property, without which especially no commerce has 
any future at all. And that being the unsophisticated condition of the 
world, and a crisis being inevitable, I indeed cannot imagine how those 
who desire nothing but peace and tranquillity can withhold their help¬ 
ing hands, that the inevitable crisis should not only be kept in a sound 
direction, but also carried down to a happy issue, capable to prevent 
the world from boiling continually, like a volcano, and insuring a last¬ 
ing peace and a lasting tranquillity, never possible so long as the great 
majority of nations are oppressed, but sure so soon as the nations are 
content,— and content they can only be when they are free. 

“ Indeed, if reasonable logic has not yet forsaken the world, it is the 
men of peace, it is the men of commerce, to the support of whom I 
have a right to look. Others may support my cause out of generosity, 
—these must support me out of considerate interest; others may oppose 


96 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


me out of egotism, — American commerce, in opposing me, would 
commit suicide. 

“Gentlemen, of such narrow nature are the considerations which 
oppose my cause. Of equally narrow, inconsistent scope are all the 
rest, with the enumeration of which I will not abuse your kind indul¬ 
gence. Compare with them the broad basis of lofty principles upon 
which the commonwealth of Massachusetts took its stand in bestowing 
the important benefit of its support to my cause ; and you cannot for¬ 
bear to feel proudly that the spirit of old Massachusetts is still alive, 
entitled to claim that right in the councils of the united republic 
which it had in the glorious days when, amidst dangers, wavering 
resolutions and partial despondency, Massachusetts took boldly the 
lead to freedom and independence. 

“Those men of immortal memory, who within these very walls 
lighted with the heavenly spark of their inspiration the torch of free¬ 
dom in America, avowed for their object the welfare of mankind; and, 
when you raised the monument of Bunker Hill, it was the genius of 
freedom thrilling through the heart of Massachusetts which made one 
of your distinguished orators say that the days of your ancient glory 
will continue to rain influence on the destinies of mankind to the end 
of time. It is upon this inspiration I rely, in the name of my down¬ 
trodden country,—to-day the martyr of mankind, to-morrow the battle¬ 
field of its destiny. 

“ Time draws nigh when either the influence of Americans must be 
felt throughout the world, or the position abandoned to which you rose 
with gigantic vitality out of the blood of your martyrs. 

“ I have seen the genius of those glorious days spreading its fiery 
wings of inspiration over the people of Massachusetts. I feel the spirit 
of olden times moving through Faneuil Hall. Let me cut short my 
stammering words ; let me leave your hearts alone with the inspiration 
of history; let me bear with me the heart-strengthening conviction 
that I have seen Boston still a radiating sun, as it was of yore, but 
risen so high on mankind’s sky as to spread its warming rays of ele¬ 
vated patriotism far over the waves. American patriotism of to-day is 
philanthropy for the world. 

“ Gentlemen, I trust in God, I trust in the destinies of humanity, 
and intrust the hopes of oppressed Europe to the consistent energy of 
Massachusetts.” 

Kossuth took his seat amidst repeated rounds of applause, and his 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


97 


Excellency, the chairman, announced that the meeting was adjourned. 
After giving a few hearty cheers for Hungary, the audience quietly 
dispersed. 


THE LEGISLATIVE BANQUET. 

On Friday evening, April 30, a grand Legislative Banquet in honor 
of Kossuth was given at Faneuil Hall. About seventy gentlemen of 
distinction, from all parts of the state, were specially invited by the 
committee, and eight hundred tickets issued for sale, at the rate of two 
dollars each. The demand for these tickets was so great that in many 
cases they sold at a premium, and on Friday it was almost impossible 
to procure them at all. 

The invited guests and ticket-holders assembled in the Doric Hall 
of the state-house at six o’clock, and a procession was formed by the 
Sergeant at Arms, assisted by Col. Schouler, in the following order: 

The Governor and Council. 

The Invited Guests. 

The Members of the Senate. 

The Members of the House. 

The General Ticket-holders. 

In this order the procession moved, accompanied by the Brigade 
Band, through Park, Tremont, Winter, Washington and State streets, 
and Merchants-row, to Faneuil Hall, which was reached about half¬ 
past six o’clock. The guests entered, and were seated in most admira¬ 
ble order. At the tables on the right and left of the president were 
seated the lieutenant-governor, the members of the Executive Coun¬ 
cil, members of the Senate, and invited guests. Among the latter was 
the venerable Josiah Quincy, whose entrance to the hall was greeted 
with enthusiastic cheers. 

Kossuth and suite entered the hall at a quarter before seven, accom¬ 
panied by Governor Boutwell, President Wilson, and Speaker Banks. 
The company rose to receive him, and greeted his entrance with a 
storm of cheers. After they were seated, the blessing of Heaven was 
invoked by Rey. Mr. Burton, the chaplain of the Senate. 

The tables, when fully laid, presented a very fine appearance. There 
were seven in the floor of the hall, and two under each gallery. The 
usual table and side-tables were extended across the platform, and the 

c\ 




98 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


whole were beautifully ornamented with various appropriate devices of 
confectionary work, bouquets of flowers, &c. Upon the tops of these 
devices were blended harmoniously the American, British and Hunga¬ 
rian flags, and in the centre of them was a statue of Kossuth. The 
tables contained plates for eight hundred and seventy-five persons. 
The galleries were occupied by several hundred spectators, mostly 
ladies. 

At ten minutes to eight o’clock, Col. Schouler rose and said: “ It 
is always customary, when we meet on occasions such as this, that, 
before we proceed to our mental enjoyments, thanks should be returned 
for those of a physical nature.” He called on Bev. Dr. Beecher, who 
returned thanks in appropriate terms. To his concluding appeal for 
success to the aims of Governor Kossuth, an universal “Amen!” 
resounded through the hall. 

Col. Schouler then announced the following gentlemen as officers for 
the meeting: 

President — Hon. Henry Wilson, President of the Senate. 

Vice-presidents — Hon. N. P. Banks, Speaker of the House; 
Hon. Francis Brinley, of Boston; Erastus Hopkins, of Northampton; 
Hon. Whiting Griswold, of Greenfield; Hon. Anson Burlingame, of 
Cambridge; Hon. Wm. Barney, of Nantucket; Hon. E. D. Bassett, 
of Barnstable; Hon. I. W. Beard, of Lowell; J. Humphrey, of Wey¬ 
mouth; Hon. J. B. Alley, of Lynn; Wm. Claflin, of Hopkinton; 
B. W. Holman, of Boston; Hon. Thomas G. Cary, of Boston; Col. 
Isaac Davis, of Worcester; Hon. E. L. Keyes, of Dedham. 

Demonstrations of applause, more or less vehement, were made at 
the announcement of each of these popular names. 

President Wilson, rising amid the cheers of the company, said: 

“ Gentlemen : It is our good fortune to assemble in Faneuil Hall 
to-night to pay a tribute of respect and admiration to the rightful Gov¬ 
ernor of Hungary. [Loud cheers.] We believe in the right of the 
people to make their own governors ; and we <jeny here in Faneuil Hall 
to-night the right of the Czar of Bussia to unmake the Governor of 
the Hungarian nation. [Loud applause.] The voice of the whole 
Hungarian nation made Louis Kossuth its governor; the intervention 
of the Czar of Bussia made him an exile. The people of Hungary 
desire national independence, and free institutions, similar to those 
which we enjoy in America, for their country. [Three cheers.] The 
Czar of Bussia, in violating the rights of Hungary, has violated the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


99 


rights and outraged the sentiments of the United States, and of all the 
civilized world. This violation drove our honored guest from Hun¬ 
gary, and placed that nation at the feet of the cruel and perfidious 
house of ITapsburg. 

“ It is our good fortune, gentlemen, to have with us, as the guest of 
the nation and of the commonwealth, a man who fills a larger space in 
the hearts of the people,— of mankind at large,— than any other 
man in all the world. [Rapturous cheers.] Eight months ago that 
great man was placed under the star-spangled banner of the United 
States; and, during those brief eight months, in the Old EWorld and in 
the New, he has received the spontaneous homage of the people,— he 
has received such welcome from them as no man living, in this or any 
other country, could have got. [Loud applause.] He has received a 
generous welcome from the people of Massachusetts, who love liberty 
for all mankind, of every race and condition. He has received a noble 
demonstration of this welcome here, where the great men of our coun¬ 
try, in ‘ thoughts that breathe and words that burn, ’ have uttered the 
great sentiments of liberty [loud cheers],— the sentiments that have 
thrilled the hearts of the whole people. [Cheers.] He has stood by 
the grave of Washington, and, dropping a tear to the memory of that 
peerless champion of liberty, has uttered those memorable words: 1 We 
can rely only on our own iron wills, on the providence of God, and on 
our own good swords ! 7 Could our voices be heard this night, from 
this old cradle of American liberty and independence, by the Hungarian 
people, by the struggling masses of the Old World, we would say to 
them, Adopt for your motto these words of your exiled champion, 
uttered over the grave of Washington. Write them on your door¬ 
posts and altars, on the covers of your Bibles and prayer-books; 
impress them on the brain and heart of your youth; repeat them at 
the rising of the sun, and at the going down of the sun; ring them in 
the ears of your oppressors at noon-day; and the time will soon come 
when we who are here to-night shall assemble again in Faneuil Hall, 
not to welcome your exiles, but to celebrate your glorious triumphs,— 
the triumphs of freedom and democracy in Europe! [Great applause.] 
Gentlemen, Hon. Edward L. Keyes will read the first of the toasts 
designed to be given this evening.” 

“ The President of the United States ” was given, and received with 
great approbation. 


100 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Col. Isaac H. Wright, Navy Agent of the port of Boston, was 
announced to respond to this toast. He thanked the president for the 
honor of calling upon him to respond. He knew hardly how to express 
his thanks. He said he could hardly think of anything unconnected 
with that which had brought together this assembly. The President 
of the United States had responded to the sentiment of the people in 
regard to Kossuth. He had responded to the sentiment given by Kos¬ 
suth to the American people,— u Be a power upon earth” We will 
be a power upon earth. The past, present and future, all call upon us to 
carry out this sentiment. When Kossuth stood beneath the protecting 
flag of the United States, where w r as the American who did not feel 
that we were a power upon earth ? May we act as firmly in our gen¬ 
eration, and to the circumstances which surround us, as did our fathers 
to the circumstances which surrounded them ! 

The second regular toast was: * 

“ The Governor of the Commonwealth: His respect to the prin¬ 
ciple of liberty, in the person of Governor Kossuth, is proof that he is 
worthy to preside over the destinies of a free people.” 

To this toast Gov. Boutwell responded. He said he should not 
make a speech. He had already participated so much in the exercises 
of the week, that it would not be proper. He would ask simply 
whether those before him believed that the existence of independent 
states — of states worthy of independent existence — on the conti¬ 
nent of Europe had been menaced, yea, even blotted out ? and if so, 
whether there is a law of nations applicable to such cases ? and if they 
so believed, whether it is to be declared? [cries of “ Yes, yes! ”] and if 
so, by whom,— by individuals, or by states ? [cries of “ By states ! ”] 
Yes, I say by states. And now, shall this nation act upon this opin¬ 
ion? [“ Yes.”] Then I ask you further, if this declaration be made, 
do you believe it will be of any value? [“Yes.”] Yes; you say 
yes, and I say yes. This century has changed in regard to the civilities 
and powers of man in this respect. 

The governor then alluded to the increase of the power of the pub¬ 
lic opinion of nations, by the improvements in printing, the steam-car, 
the railroad, and the telegraph. Then let the sons of Massachusetts 
use this power, and make it felt in the diplomacy of the country,, If 
this declaration is unheeded, what will the United States then do ? 
He replied, acting upon this principle, she will do what seems proper 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


101 


when these circumstances arise. War is a great evil, but it is not the 
greatest of evils. Prostrated humanity is a greater evil than war. 
Massachusetts rests upon the principle of the rightful power of all to 
govern themselves. With a few further remarks upon this point, Gov. 
Boutwell resumed his seat, amid hearty applause. 

The next regular toast was: 

u The City of Boston : The seat of commerce, learning and char¬ 
ity, and the honored birth-place of American liberty.’ 5 

Mayor Seaver, in response, spoke as follows: 

“ Me. President: I thank you for the sentiment which has been 
proposed in honor of the city of Boston. She could not but be dis¬ 
tinguished in being the capital of such a state as Massachusetts. She 
is always ready to acknowledge her indebtedness to our honored old 
commonwealth; and I am sure she will never be found wanting in the 
performance of the duties that grow out of her relations to it. Hap¬ 
pily, sir, the interests of all portions of the state, the city and the 
country, are identical; and anything, therefore, that promotes the 
prosperity of the one, promotes the prosperity of all. Long may the 
kindly sentiments which now prevail among the people, from Cape Cod 
to Berkshire, be continued and strengthened! This, I assure you, sir, 
is the ardent wish of the people of this city; and nothing will designedly 
be done by them to impair it. Whatever differences of opinion may exist 
here or elsewhere, with regard to our relations with foreign countries, 
with intervention or non-intervention, there is none , there can be none> 
with regard to the duty and the privilege of receiving and welcoming 
exiles and strangers who flee from despotism to our own free land. 
Boston, I am proud to say, has always received with open arms and 
warm hearts all who are oppressed in their religious or political rights. 
It cannot be otherwise in a city from which may be seen Bunker Hill, 
Lexington, and Concord,— a city which participated so freely in the 
glorious struggle of ’76. 

“The freedom of Europe is only a question of time. Its accom¬ 
plishment is certain; and those despots who by tyrannical expedients 
endeavor to perpetuate their power are like the man who cut down the 
tree in order to gather its fruit. 

“ I beg leave to offer you the following sentiment : 

“ Our Distinguished Guest: As men, we welcome him as brother- 
man ; as freemen , we extend the hand of sympathy to a sufferer in 
the cause of liberty.” 

9 * 


102 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


The fourth regular toast was : 

“The Quinejs: The echoes of Faneuil Hall are familiar with 
the sound of that honored name.” 

President Wilson said: “ Allow me to introduce to you the son of 
one of the men who breathed into the nation the breath of life, and 
who inherits all the native love of liberty which distinguished his ances¬ 
tors,— the venerable Josiah Quincy.” 

Mr. Quincy was received with universal and long-continued cheer¬ 
ing. He said: 

“Mr. President: This is as insupportable as it is unexpected. 
At my time of life I came here with great difficulty. I could not 
expect, at the age of eighty years, to feel the enthusiasm of middle age, 
or anything of the ardor of youth. Age chills the feelings, and ren¬ 
ders the heart cold; but I have still feeling enough left to say to the 
hero of the Old World, Welcome to the liberty of the New! I can 
say to the hero of Hungarian liberty, Welcome to the peace and hap¬ 
piness of our western home ! And I can pray that in Hungary he 
may yet enjoy the same blessings on his own fields, partaking of the 
fruit of his own acres, and reaping the reward of his patriotic labors. 
How this can happen, my dim eyes cannot discover; but there is a 
God in heaven, who will break the rod of the oppressor, and let the 
oppressed go free. 

“ Independent of all considerations of Hungary, I rejoice that, in 
the providence of God, our distinguished guest has been brought to our 
shores, and believe that he has visited the United States for our good. 
He has passed from one free state to another, like the lightning, to 
arouse every free heart to the dangers of liberty throughout the world. 
What have we witnessed? Six months ago, France stood in the glory 
of her liberty. Where is she now ? The iron heel of despotism is 
pivoting on her neck, and she is licking the foot that crushes her, and 
gilding the chain that binds her. We may all learn a lesson from this, 
thatf.liberty is never safe unless the people are virtuous, and prepared 
to defend themselves. [Cheers.] Where shall we find the spirit of 
liberty in the world ? I know of it in no other countries than the 
United States and Great Britain. Let Great Britain fail and be beaten 
down, and all the navies of Europe will be bristling against the United 
States. In Great Britain herself can we not see that the spirit of 
the Reformation, the spirit of 1688, no longer fives in that country as 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


103 


it once did ? There is danger for liberty, and the warning is timely. 
Let me close by repeating a sentiment which I just uttered : 

“ The Liberty of a People: Safe only where they are virtuous, and 
prepared to defend themselves.” 

The fifth regular toast was : 

“ Governor Louis Kossuth: The man who began public life by 
cheering his affrighted countrymen amid the ravages of the cholera: 
who suffered years of imprisonment for daring to report his country’s 
wrongs; who was applied to by the Emperor of Austria as the only 
man who could restore the peace of Vienna; who, in the cabinet, 
could, like Carnot, organize victory over the enemies of his country; 
who resigned the Governorship of Hungary when her liberties were 
guaranteed; who refused, with scorn, the infamous price at which the 
Turk offered him an asylum; and who now, a homeless exile, com¬ 
mands, by his surprising eloquence, the sympathy of the world in 
behalf of his down-trodden country,—deserves the admiration, respect 
and aid, of every friend of republicanism, humanity and liberty, 
throughout the earth.” 

President Wilson, introducing the guest of the evening, said: 

“Gentlemen, allow me to present to you the illustrious guest of 
Massachusetts, Governor Kossuth. He has won our admiration as a 
man by the advocacy of the cause of his country, and he has won all 
our hearts by the purity of his principles.” 

As Kossuth came forward on the platform, he was received by nine 
hearty cheers. After the applause subsided, he spoke substantially as 
follows. 


kossuth’s speech at the banquet. 

“Gentlemen: One of your greatest men [Franklin], standing up at 
the moment of a great time, teeming in rich events affecting the destinies 
of mankind, before the Parliament of England, called to answer what 
others might ask him, though learned and great, was not eloquent in 
the commonly accepted sense of that word; but his answer, full of 
simple truth, is recognized as one of the greatest triumphs of human 
eloquence. 

“ He had an inspired mind. To him, modesty was a virtue; to me, 
it is but duty. I can get no answer to the toast with which you have 
honored me out of inspiration; but, looking up to God, and remem- 


104 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


bering my country’s cause, and trusting to your generosity, I will try 
what I can say. Before all, let me express a word of veneration and 
thanks to that venerable gentleman there [pointing to Josiah Quincy]. 
[Cheers.] Sir, I believe when you spoke of age cooling the hearts 
of men, you spoke the truth in respect to ordinary men [cheers]; 
but you did yourself injustice. [Cheers.] The common excitement 
and warm blood of youth pass away; but the heart of the wise man, 
the older it grows, the warmer it feels. [Cheers.] 

11 Gentlemen, if I am not mistaken, the toast you honored me with 
w r as almost entirely personal in its character. It is a great fact, gen¬ 
tlemen, that the glory of your free people resists even the common 
fate of humanity, recorded in history, that prosperity often hardens 
the heart; and that a poor exile like myself, with nothing to speak for 
him but the justness of his own cause, his own sufferings, and the mis¬ 
fortunes of his country, meets even personal honors. Great events 
sometimes spring from small things. That fact Divine Providence may 
intend to mark an era in mankind’s destiny,— an era at which Amer¬ 
ica consents to fulfil its destiny among the nations of the earth. When 
happiness and power take misfortune by the hand, it is not possible it 
can pass away without fruits for future time. [Cheers.] 

“ But if in your expectations I should become a screen to divert, for 
a single moment, your attention from my country’s cause and attract 
it to myself, I entreat you, even here, to forget me, and bestow all 
your attention and your generous sympathy upon the cause of my 
down-trodden father-land. Indeed, I believe the time has come when 
few men have the right any more to claim the name of great men. 
According as public spirit advances, individual greatness lowers. As 
to me, indeed, it would be curious, if the names of the great men who 
invented the plough and the alphabet, who changed the corn into flour 
and the flour into bread, should be forgotten, and my name remem¬ 
bered. Great men, whose generous deeds mark an era in developing 
the great battle of humanity, wresting the sceptre from the tyrant’s 
hands,— such men live; humanity cherishes their generosity; but 
self is forgotten in the cause. Notwithstanding, I may be permitted 
to dwell upon a few incidents in my own life, such as are instructive 
as evident marks of the bountiful operation of Divine Providence. 
Before this, however, having heard Turkey mentioned in regard to cer¬ 
tain facts which you, Mr. President, enumerate among not my merits, 
but my duties, it is due to the Sultan of Turkey to say he never 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


105 


attached that price to the protection of my life. Russian diplomacy 
is very skilful (here, by and by,— excuse me, gentlemen, when I say 
it,— you may see something of that skill which is sending some of its 
shrewdest men to the Emperor Souloque; not, of course, out of mere 
compliment),— now, Russian diplomacy is not more common or more 
skilful anywhere than at Constantinople; and it succeeded to carry a 
vote in the Divan, the great Council of Turkey, that I and my asso¬ 
ciates should be surrendered. In consequence, a high officer sent to 
Widdin this information, to suggest that, if I valued life more than 
honor, I could save it by abandoning my religion. But, on the second 
day, when the vote was made known to the Sultan, he arose, raised his 
hands, and said: ‘ I will never avert the sufferings of a war from my 
Country by dishonor. If I am doomed to perish, I will perish with 
honor. I will never surrender them.’ [Cheers.] It is at this time 
I wrote a letter to England; and a very interesting fact occurred, 
brought home to my mind by a recent incident at Hartford, but of 
which I will not speak now, because it has been reported in the news¬ 
papers. However, before Lord Palmerston got my letter, the Sultan 
had given his decision; and, not knowing how far the satellite of the 
Czar, Francis Joseph, might go to prevent our lives from being saved, 
he ordered out forty thousand men from the regular army to protect 
us. But a rumor having spread that this army was intended to act 
against Russia, instead of forty thousand, one hundred thousand men 
assembled, from one province, by their own will. So much is due, 
on my part, to history, and to the honor of the Sultan. He, many 
times, has protected my countrymen. He never refused a refuge to 
an unfortunate Hungarian. 

11 Now, as to my own humble self. Two circumstances may not be 
unworthy of attention. First, that when by violence and oppression 
beat down, it was not my merit, but my fate, that, touching the earth, 
like the mythical Antaeus, I rose always with more power to do good 
to my country and to humanity. Even the circumstance by which I 
have the honor to bow before you, and to have become an opportunity 
for the pronunciation of great principles in the United States,— that 
fact proves true what I have said. 

“ When I w r ent to prison in far Asia, abandoned by all the world, 
forgotten by all except my own people, it was expected that Kutayiah 
would become my grave,— at least, the grave of my activities for all 
future time; but I left that prison under the protecting banner of the 
United States, the first time raised as a signal that the United States 


106 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


were willing to be a power on earth ; and then, as I went on, I met 
proof of the fact that, instead of ancient isolation, there was acknowl¬ 
edgment of a tie binding the destinies of nations. [Cheers.] 

‘‘When on the threshold of manhood I thought not how to gain 
glory, which I was terrified at, but to benefit my country. I believed 
the first step to secure that benefit was free thought and a free press, 
forbidden to us not by law, but only by the arbitrary power of the 
government. I took ground against that arbitrary government; and, 
having no other power, resorted to the ancient method of making manu¬ 
script copies of the reports of the Hungarian Parliament; and I did it 
with the certain confidence that a free press would be the result of my 
endeavors. 

“ I was sent to prison, and was for one year deprived of all intellect¬ 
ual food; until, at last, when permitted to select books, I was ordered to 
have nothing about politics. Well, indeed, not conscious of what I 
did, but only remembering the treasures hidden in the English lan¬ 
guage,— treasures of knowledge and of science,— I told them to give 
me an English Dictionary and Shakspeare. These could have nothing 
to do with politics. Look what came out of that fact! — not that with 
my bad English I could contribute anything to knowledge, intellect 
or righteous sentiment; but, if I did not know what little English I 
speak, I would not have been received as I have been in England or 
America, because there is necessity of communication. God looks into 
the heart; men w T ant words to express their thoughts. [Cheers.] My 
enemies considered so much. An article was published in the Augs¬ 
burg Gazette , I believe, on the very day when I landed in England, 
saying that I was not able to speak English, and that Lord Dudley 
Stuart would take me by the hand as a show from far Asia, and escort 
me through the country, making bad speeches, while I only bowed or 
muttered. Just to show how little I knew of English, my friend and 
representative in London, Mr. Pulszky [cheers for Pulszky], jan bear 
testimony that, a few weeks before I came to Southampton, I sent him 
a despatch, written in English, a part of which it was necessary to 
publish; and he, not considering himself authorized to alter it, was 
somewhat embarrassed, because it w T as written in such a bad manner. 
Then from Turkey, where I had not much opportunity to study Eng¬ 
lish, I came to England, and since I have spoken five hundred times. 
It is a curious thought, indeed,—it would be presumptuous for me to 
apply it to myself,— but I remember in olden times, when God had 
chosen humble men as his tools to carry out his designs, he imparted 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


10T 


to them the gift of tongues, and they went on preaching his word 
among all the nations of the earth. By the bounty and mercy of God, 
when I think what I have done, it seems nearly to me that I have been 
the object of miraculous favor, and thus acquired the knowledge I 
have of your language, imperfect as it is, but without which, as I have 
said, my mission could have been of but little service to my country. 

“Well, I left prison; and that government which imprisoned me for 
publishing a mere record of facts, that government suggested the pub¬ 
lication of a newspaper, because it thought that, being thus occupied 
writing my editorials under the iron hand of censorship (the censor 
taking care that no truth interfering with Austria should pass), I 
would not be able to employ my time in any other way. And, indeed, 
the hardest days of my life were when I sat reflecting how to obtain a 
passport from the censor to a single truth for free principles among my 
people. But, notwithstanding, the light of truth cannot be shut out. 
In three years my journal became the basis of future revolutions in 
Hungary. Then the Austrian government, seeing itself deluded, so 
managed that I lost my journal, and had no further opportunity to 
exercise my patriotic motives in that direction. 

“ Gentlemen, allow me to say a few words on the ancient institu¬ 
tions of Hungary. I have often heard it said that the people of 
Europe are incapable of self-government. Let me speak of the people 
of Hungary, to show whether they are capable of self-government or 
not. In thirty-six years, with God’s help, and through your generous 
aid, the free people of Hungary will celebrate the one-thousandth 
anniversary of the establishment of their home — the millennium of 
Hungary in Europe. Yes, gentlemen, may I hope that celebration will 
take place, under the blessings of liberty, in the year 1889 ? [Cheers.] 

“ It is a long period,— one thousand years,— and 0 ! how it has 
teemed with adversities to my people ! And yet, through this long time, 
amid all adversities, there was no period when the people of Hungary 
did not resist despotism. Our boast is, that through the vicissitudes 
of a thousand years, there was not a moment when the popular will 
and the legal authorities had sanctioned the rule of absolutism. And, 
gentlemen, what other people, for one thousand years, has not con¬ 
sented to be ruled by despotism? [Cheers.] Even in the nineteenth 
century I am glad to look back to the wisdom of our fathers through a 
thousand years, who laid down the basis of Hungarian institutions, 
which for all eternity must remain true. This basis was upon that 
Latin proverb, nil de nobis , sine nobis , — ‘ nothing about us, 


108 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


without us.’ That was so much as to claim that every man should 
have a full share in the sovereignty of the people, and a full share in 
the rights belonging to his nation. In other times, a theory was got 
up to convince the people that they ought to have a share in legisla¬ 
tion, just to have the power to control that legislation, but denying the 
right of the people to control* the executive power. The Hungarian 
people never adopted that theory. They ever claimed a full share in 
the executive, as in the legislative and judicial power. Out of this 
idea of government rose the municipal system of Hungary. In respect 
to Hungarian aristocracy, you must not consider it in the same light 
as the aristocracy of England. The word nobleman in Hungary orig¬ 
inally was so much as soldier. Every man who defended his country 
was a nobleman [cheers], and every man who had a vote was called to 
defend his country. [Cheers.] I believe the duty of defending a 
man’s country, and also political right, should be common. [Cheers.] 
<£ After our people had conquered a home, the leaders took the lion’s 
share, of course. But it should be considered that those who had the 
largest share of the property were compelled to furnish soldiers accord¬ 
ing to the extent of their possessions. Therefore such men gave a part of 
their land to the people to cultivate, and desired aid of them whenever 
the necessity for war came. So, all who defended their country were con¬ 
sidered noblemen. Hungary was divided into fifty-two counties, but not 
counties like yours; —some of them were so populous as to be compared 
to your states, containing perhaps half a million or more of people; and 
those who became the aristocracy, in some of these counties, amounted 
to thirty-five thousand. In every county was a fortress ; and, when¬ 
ever defence became necessary, the rich men went into these for¬ 
tresses under their own banner, and the others went under the king’s 
colors, and were commanded by the sheriff of the county, who was 
like your governor,— at least, who was the chief of the executive. 
There were also certain cities raised to constitutional rights. A 
smaller city, surrounded by fortifications, or which was an important 
point, was represented in the Diet; whilst larger places, not points of 
importance for national defence, were represented but by the county 
delegates. Every place that had the elements of defence had political 
rights. So it came that the aristocracy were not a few men, but 
naif a million. Before our revolution, I had contended to beat down 
this barrier of aristocracy. [Cheers.] Before the revolution, in 
municipal governments, only the nobility had a share,— they only were 
the men who could vote; but the change was easy. The frame of self- 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


109 


government was ready. We had only to say the people, instead of the 
nobility , had the right to vote, and so we buried aristocracy never to 
be resurrected in one day. [Cheers.] Each county elected its repre¬ 
sentatives to the Diet, and had the right of intercourse with other 
counties, by means of letters, on all matters of importance to these 
counties; and therefore our fifty-two primary councils were work-shops 
for the development of public spirit. We elected our judiciary and 
executive, and the government had not a right to send instructions or 
orders to our executive ; and, if an order came which was considered to 
be inconsistent with our constitutional rights, it was not sent to the exec¬ 
utive, but to the council; and therefore the arbitrary orders of the gov¬ 
ernment could not be executed, because they came not into the hands 
of the executive. Thus were our councils barriers to oppression. 

“ When the French took Saragossa, it was not enough to take the 
city — they had to take every house. So we went on ; and, though 
some counties might accept the arbitrary orders of the government, 
some resisted, and, discussing in their letters to the other counties the 
points of right, enlightened them; and it was seen that, when the last 
house in Saragossa had been beaten down, the first stood erect again. 
[Cheers.] In consequence of the democratic nature of our institutions, 
our councils were our grand juries. But, after having elected our 
judges, we chose several men in every county meeting, of no public 
office, but conspicuous for their integrity and knowledge of the law, to 
assist the judges in the administration of the law. 

11 Believe me, these institutions had a sound basis, fit to protect a nation 
against arbitrary government, tending to centralization and oppression. 
Now, these counties having contended against the Austrian govern¬ 
ment, it did everything to destroy them. The great field was opened 
in the Diet of ’47. Having been elected from the county of Pesth, I 
had the honor to lead the party devoted to national rights and opposed 
to centralization, and in defence of municipal authority. It was my 
intention to make it impossible that the government could encroach 
upon the liberties of the people. [Cheers.] We had the misfortune 
in Hungary to be governed by a constitutional king, who at the same 
time was the absolute monarch of another realm, by birth and inter¬ 
ests attached to absolutism, and opposed to constitutional government. 
It w'as difficult to be an absolute monarch, and live the King of Hun¬ 
gary. There is on record a speech of mine, spoken in the Hungarian 
Diet, about the inconsistency of these two attributes in one man,—- 
that either Austria must become constitutional, or Hungary absolut- 
10 


110 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


istical. That speech made the revolution of ’48 at Vienna. After 
this revolution, I was sent to Vienna to ask that the laws we had 
passed, releasing the people from feudal burdens, might be confirmed, 
and demanding a constitutional ministry. Then it was a circumstance 
occurred to which I heard an allusion in the toast offered to me. I 
was told the king would grant our request, but there was agitation in 
Vienna, and it would look as if the king had yielded to a pressure; 
if the people would be quiet, the king would sanction our laws. Then 
I said that if the king would give our laws the required sanction, peace 
would be made for the house of Austria in twenty-four hours. But, 
when that consent was given in one chamber, in another chamber that 
wicked woman, Sophia, the mother of the present emperor, who calls 
himself King of Hungary,— no, he does not call himself King of Hun¬ 
gary, for he thinks the national existence of Hungary is blotted out,— 
plotted how to ruin my people, and destroy that sanction, which was 
nothing but the sanction of a just cause. Next came the Hungarian 
ministry ; and, strange to say, I saw myself placed nearest the throne. 
Here I must mention two circumstances not yet recorded in history. 

“ When in Vienna, after the sanction was granted, and steps taken 
to retract it, I went to the Archduke Stephen, the Palatine of Hun¬ 
gary, the first constitutional authority of Hungary, the elective vice¬ 
roy, and told him he should return to Hungary, if he wished to pre¬ 
serve his influence. 

“ He answered that he could not return to Hungary; for, if the king 
did not sanction our laws, he (the Archduke Stephen) might be pro¬ 
claimed king, instead of the Emperor of Austria, and he would never 
dethrone his cousin. 

“ I answered that he spoke like an honest man ; but, perhaps, the 
time would come when he would find an empty seat on that throne, 
and he had better take it; for I could assure him, if he did not, no 
other man ever would, with the consent of the people. When, five 
months later, in Hungary, we met for the last time, he called me to 
his house on a stormy night, and desired of me to know what would be 
the issue of matters in Hungary. I answered, I could see no issue for 
him, only the crown or the scaffold, and then for the people a republic. 

‘ But even from this alternative I will relieve you,’ I said to him; 

‘ for you the crown, for me the scaffold, if Hungarian independence is 
not achieved.’ I take no hesitation here to confess, that such was the 
embarrassed state of Hungarian affairs, that I would have felt satisfied 
for him to have accepted the crown. Remember that your fathers did 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Ill 


not design at first to sever the ties which hound the colonies to Eng¬ 
land, but circumstances forced the issue. So it was with us. We 
asked at first only democratic institutions; hut, when it was possible, 
we were glad to throw away our kings. [Cheers.] 

u The Archduke did not accept, but was rather a traitor to his 
country. Such is the connection of tyrants with each other, they 
desire not to prevent others from oppressing. He is now an exile, like 
myself. If he had accepted, no doubt the independence of Hungary 
would have been recognized by even Russia, especially if he had 
formed a family alliance with that despotism; and then for centuries the 
establishment of a republic would have been impossible, whereas now, 
as sure as there is a God in heaven, no king will ever rule Hungary ; 
but it must be one of those republics wherein republicanism is not a 
mere romance, but a reality, founded upon the basis of municipal 
authorities to which the people are attached. We could never have 
such a movement as disgraced France in December. [Cheers.] 

11 The second fact in my life is an evidence that to honest hearts 
and iron wills some field is ever open to do good to our fellow-men. 
Thrown back into private life, I just considered how to do good to my 
country through the field of social development; and I established asso¬ 
ciations to promote agricultural interests, commerce, public education, 
&c. The government, believing that in whatever I did there must be 
some political intention, while the mass of the people were attracted to 
these associations, interfered, and would not allow the people of Hun¬ 
gary to do good for their nation in these associations; hence, from 
coming together to promote industry, they became also my brethren 
in a political aspect. [Cheers.] Thus, when the government intended 
to check my influence, it gave me that popularity by which I was able 
to do what I have done for my country. 

“ Allow me to say one word for these associations. I take political 
economy for a science not exactly like mathematics. It is quite a 
practical thing, depending upon circumstances, but in certain proceed¬ 
ings a negative principle exists. In political economy it is not good 
for the people that a prohibitory system be adopted. Protection may 
sometimes be of service to a nation, but prohibition never. 

“Now, by an absurd prohibitory system, Hungary was excluded 
from the commerce of the whole world, and was obliged by Austria to 
pay a high price for bad goods. The consumption of cotton alone, in 
Hungary, amounted to nine and a half millions of dollars per annum. 
It was not possible to receive it through France or Belgium; and upon 


112 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


every hundred-weight was fifty-five dollars import duty, which com¬ 
pelled the Hungarians to pay one hundred dollars for what they could 
buy here for forty-six dollars. That condition did not benefit Aus¬ 
trian labor, because a prohibitory system is never a benefit. Protec¬ 
tion may be, for a certain time ; but never to extend further than to 
make an equilibrium, where circumstances exist that cannot be con¬ 
trolled by human intellect and human industry. Wherever protection 
goes over to a prohibitory system, there industry never develops. 
Such was the condition in Hungary. The people had no interest in 
progress. What was the motive for this policy of the government ? 
It was because the Austrian courtiers were not able to draw as much 
money out of Hungary as they desired, although six or eight or ten 
millions passed into the hands of the courtiers' every year, only to 
oppress nations ; — still it was not enough, and because we continued 
to resist, they insured a monopoly of trade to Austrian merchants. In 
that condition of affairs, the Legislature of Hungary proposed a tariff 
to Austria beneficial to the people, and not noxious to Austria; but the 
government vetoed it. 

“I am always looking to your history; and I thought then of what 
Franklin told the American people, to wear their old clothes till they 
could make new out of their own industry. [Cheers.] The Hunga¬ 
rians established associations to protect home industry, by refraining 
from buying Austrian goods. In such a way we went on to do as 
much good as we could; and, indeed, I was glad to see how my people 
had natural capacity, not only to maintain their rights on the battle¬ 
field, but to understand other matters. — and how they took such a 
start to defend their rightful privileges. 

“ Gentlemen, one thing I especially desire to speak of in Boston, 
where, notwithstanding the intelligence and republican spirit of the 
people, a voice has been raised to declare that the war in Hungary 
was a war between races. Allow me to say a few words on this mat-, 
ter, although the voice to which I refer has been successfully answered 
by intellect and knowledge among yourselves. 

“ In the year 1000 King Stephen wrote a political testament, where¬ 
in he declared that no country could securely exist where the people 
spoke but one language. It is a curious fact, and I mention it to show 
why in Hungary never did exist rivalry and hostility to the introduc¬ 
tion of foreign languages. 

“ Having determined to convert the people of Hungary to Chris¬ 
tianity, King Stephen invited the Homan Catholic priests of Germany 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


113 


to help him. Hungary, after some little resistance, became Christian; 
but those who had assisted Stephen, looking naturally a little to their 
own interest, invited their countrymen to come to Hungary, and 
desired that certain privileges should be secured them; and they so 
managed the system that all the power came through their hands. 
They succeeded to persuade King Stephen to introduce Latin as the 
diplomatic language of Hungary, because the best-educated Hungari¬ 
ans did not know a single word of Latin; only the Roman Catholic 
clergy from Germany and Italy understood it. By and by, the aris¬ 
tocracy learned it; but the mass of the people, not brought up to be 
Latin and Greek scholars, but only good citizens, were excluded from 
public concerns, and so the power was concentrated in the hands of 
the priests and nobility. Therefore, we were led to say that the Latin 
language should not longer be used in our Legislature, but that a 
living language should take its place. Now, there were different lan¬ 
guages spoken in Hungary; but by Hungarians what was more natu¬ 
ral than that they should desire the Hungarian language to be fixed 
as the legislative, the national language ? The Magyars were equal 
in numbers to almost all the rest of the people, and twice as numerous 
as those speaking any other dialect. 

“ Now, gentlemen, this is quite your condition in the United States, 
composed of millions speaking different languages;—still nobody ever 
heard it was oppression that in Congress and in the State Legislatures 
the German language is not spoken. The only difference from us iSj 
that we found the Latin language ruling, and had to say which lan¬ 
guage should take its place; while you had, without question, to adopt 
the language you found ruling, because it is a living language, and the 
people understanding it, they are^not excluded from a participation in 
public concerns. 

“ But it is false to say there was the slightest difference made 
between the Sclavonian, Magyar, or German, or "Wallach people. 
Already King Stephen had introduced the fashion; and whoever 
would look back to books would find that nine-tenths of the titled 
nobility were foreigners, and the aristocracy numbered only five hun¬ 
dred thousand, while the Magyars were at least six millions; therefore, 
gentlemen, the only distinction in political rights was nobility, not 
Magyar or Sclavonian. There w r ere amongst the Germans, Wallach- 
ians and Sclavonians, large numbers of nobles, and amongst the 
Magyars many who had no political rights. Every race had the same 
10 * 


114 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


political rights; and by the revolution all the people, of whatever 
language, had not only equal rights before the law, but in politics. 

“When Ban Jellacic rose against us, if the Croats had fought for 
nationality, they would not have invaded Hungary to establish the 
absolutism of the house of Hapsburg. The basis of Ban Jellacic 7 s 
military reputation was always to be beaten; but, when we had beaten 
him, we did not enter Croatia,— we did not intend to conquer it, even 
though we had the right. We told the Croatians, ‘ If you will not 
be connected with us, God bless you ! We can be good neighbors. 5 
It was our intention to restore all the people to freedom, civil as well 
as religious. [Cheers.] 

“ Excuse me, gentlemen, if I abuse your kindness. [Cries of “ Go 
on ! go on ! 55 ] I did not intend to make a long speech, and it would 
have no interest to you, if you have not sympathy with my cause. It 
is not necessary for me to contribute to that interest, but it is a satis¬ 
faction to the poor exile to show how just is the cause he pleads. I 
claim no other merit, but only to speak the sentiments of my people, 
to be a reflection of their hopes and purposes. [Cheers.] I am anxious 
to make known my ideas upon the future organization of my people. 
[Cries of “ Go on ! go on ! 55 ] Well, gentlemen, that organization we 
propose is founded upon the sovereignty of the people, not only in a 
legislative capacity, because it is not enough that we show that sover¬ 
eignty by casting a vote once in three or four years; we must feel it 
every day, everywhere. 

“ The sovereignty of the people claims that men have certain rights, 
not depending from any power, because they are natural rights. I 
mean such as religious liberty, free thought, a free press, and the right 
of every family to regulate its own affairs; but not only every family, 
— every town, city and county. Now, our Hungarian sovereignty shall 
be such that the higher government will have no power to interfere in 
the domestic concerns of any town, city or county. These are the 
principles upon which our government shall be founded; principles of 
popular sovereignty, not only in legislation, but a particular share in 
the executive department of government. These are the principles 
which we have upheld for a thousand years, and which we always, by 
the help of God, will uphold. Judge whether such a people is worthy 
to meet the sympathy of republicans like you, who have shown to the 
world the capability to be powerful without centralization ! [Cheers.] 
Believe me, there is harmony in our ancient principles and yours. 
Judge whether my people is capable of self-government! [Cheers.] 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


115 


“ I entreat you to have faith in my people ; a life of one thousand 
years is no child’s play, especially through all that time to conserve 
constitutional government, and some vitality of popular sovereignty. 
We have had many revolutions, and many men who have been great 
instrumentalities for humanity ; but Hungary never met an ambitious 
man to whom it gave its confidence. Therefore, when victorious, our 
glorious leaders laid down their swords and went home. [Cheers.] 
Great power was never concentrated in one hand, because power was 
not centralized. Never Hungary gave its entire confidence, and was 
betrayed. Of course, I don’t speak of those to whom the pressure of 
circumstances, and not the confidence of the people, had given a moment¬ 
ary power. Look at France •—it has tried every form of government, 
but, placing its confidence in men who were ambitious, they destroyed 
its rights. Why ? They kept in a centralizing direction; and central¬ 
ization always leads to despotism. [Cheers.] But I may entreat you 
not to despair for France. Now there is an iron grasp upon it; but 
the very fact that centralization, the result of the fatal propensity to 
military glory, led to such an inglorious issue, will cure the people of 
that fatal principle. The passion for military glory has given birth to 
that fatal idea of France, that it must have a strong government, when, 
indeed, the strongest government is that which does not mix with the 
domestic concerns of the people, but only takes care that their interests 
be not interfered with, and their rights violated [cheers],— quite con¬ 
trary to the notion of certain philosophers, that the people are not fit 
for participation in the executive or judiciary, and that popular repre¬ 
sentation has but to redress the grievances and check the encroach¬ 
ments of the executive. 

“ Look now at that interesting fact in Louis Napoleon’s course, that 
he is forced by circumstances to do step by step what is but necessary 
that France may become strictly republican. Louis Napoleon, out of 
the consideration not to see power centralized in the ministry or the 
assembly, begins to decentralize power from Paris, that it may not 
turn hostile against him. See how a bad purpose, without our will, 
becomes an instrumentality for freedom [cheers], which God in his 
mercy will not forbid the French people ! Just so, gentlemen, as the 
Austrian government, when it thought to deprive me of influence, 
became, in the providence of God, the means for me to get more influ¬ 
ence, and to do some good to my people. [Cheers.] 

“ Gentlemen, I may hope these few remarks will serve to increase 
among you the conviction that my people are capable of self-govern- 


116 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


ment. It is true a nation should never act out of sympathy, but out 
of regard to its own interests. What are the interests of the United 
States now ? Can it be indifferent to the condition of Europe ? When 
in Asia and on the Mediterranean, it must meet Russia, which now in 
Europe, Hungary being crushed, has no power to check it, because, by 
the invasion of Hungary, it has overthrown the balance of power in 
Europe. That America should give its voice to restore this balance 
of power, is not against the principles of Washington, but only against 
the policy of 1798; and policy, being the science of exigencies, to be 
wise, not only can but must change according to the change of exigen¬ 
cies, whereas principles are lasting. [Cheers.] I know you get 
instruction out of history to support the principles and to revere the 
character of Washington. But, gentlemen, what was principle, and 
what policy, in the late war with England ? Let me mention one thing, 
to show how policy may change. Once you paid a tribute to the Hey 
of Algiers, by consent of Congress. That was good policy, and Wash¬ 
ington recommended it. But now you know when Hecatur, of immor¬ 
tal memory, was sent to the Hey of Algiers to redress the grievances 
of America, the Hey did not demand more tribute, but, in order to 
yield with a good grace, he requested the commodore to give him a 
little powder. Hecatur answered him, £ Yes, sir; you shall have the 
powder, but only with the balls.’ [Cheers.] And it came to nobody’s 
mind that Hecatur was opposing the doctrine of Washington, because 
he would by balls defend the commerce of America. This very cir¬ 
cumstance shows the fallacy of the doctrine, that the policy of one 
time is the policy of another time. I would not say that the policy 
of wise Washington should be hastily abandoned; but I would ask that 
the exigencies of the present time be not disregarded, because different 
from the circumstances of a former time, when the people were not 
and could not have been aware N of the exigencies of the present. 
[Cheers.] 

“The venerable gentleman [Josiah Quincy] spoke a word about 
England. I believe the Anglo-Saxon race must have a high destiny 
in the history of mankind. It is the only race the younger brother 
of which is free, while the elder brother has also some freedom. You, 
gentlemen, acknowledge that from the mother country you obtained 
certain of your principles of liberty,— free thought and speech, a free 
press, &c.,— and I am sure, gentlemen, the English people are proud 
of liberty. Called to pronounce against the league of despots, the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


117 


republican United States and constitutional England in concord, what 
would be the consequence ? 

“ I answer, as when the South American republic was threatened,— 
as when Russia forbade American vessels to approach within a hundred 
miles of its American shores,— such as was your conduct in those 
cases, such should be your conduct now, and such, also, would be the 
consequences. The despots would not dare to advance. 

“I have often met, in the United States, an objection against an 
alliance with England; but it is chiefly the Irish who are opposed to 
being on good terms with England. In respect to my being in the 
United States, as regards the Irish, if I could contribute one line more 
to the future unity in action of the United States and England, I 
should more aid the Irish than by all exclamations against one or the 
other. With the United States and England in union, the continent 
of Europe would be republican. [Cheers.] Then, though England 
remained monarchical, Ireland would be more free than it is now. If 
I were an Irishman, I would not have raised the standard of repeal, 
which offended the people of England, but the standard of municipal 
self-government, against parliamentary omnipotence; not as an Irish 
question, but as a common question to all; and in this movement all 
the people of England and Scotland would have joined, and there now 
would have been a Parliament in England, in Ireland, and Scotland- 
Such is the geographical position of Great Britain that its countries! 
should be not one, but united; each with its own Parliament, but still 
one Parliament for all. [Cheers.] If I could contribute to get England 
to oppose the encroachments of absolutism, I would be doing more to 
aid Ireland, because aiding freedom, than to induce England to look 
indifferently at the approach of absolutism. I was glad to hear the 
words of that venerable gentleman [Josiah Quincy]; they brought 
to my mind the words of John Adams, first minister of the United 
States to England. When he addressed the king, he said, ‘ He 
would be happy could he restore entire esteem , confidence , and 
affection , between the United States and England ; ’ and King 
George III replied , £ / was the last to conform to the separation , 
and I am the first to meet the friendship of the United States. 
Let the communities of language , religion and bloody have their 
full and natural effect .’ 

“ Let this precedent, belonging to the intelligence not of to-day only, 
but derived from the days when your people took the lead, not only in, 
but, I am happy to say, through, the Revolution,— let these words 


118 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


become now considered of particular interest to both countries, and it 
would be of the greatest benefit to mankind. There is nothing more 
necessary to secure the freedom of Europe than consent to act together 
on the part of the United States and England. 

u It is not necessary to say how far they will go; but only necessary 
to say they will do as much as their interests allow, and will do what 
may be necessary to insure that the law of nations should be protected, 
and not abandoned. 

“ When I was in England, nothing gave me more delight than to 
hear delegations addressing me mention your Washington, and confess 
themselves sorry that he had to manifest his greatness in contending 
against England. But they were more proud to see the greatness of 
such a man than not to be opposed by him. They intrusted me to 
bring word to the United States that they wished to be united with 
you for the benefit of all humanity. [Cheers.] 

11 1 was charged particularly by one hundred men, connected with 
commerce at Manchester, the least wealthy of whom was worth, as 
they express it in England, ten thousand pounds a year,— they say 
Englishmen are weighed by their money — I don’t know how it is here 
— [laughter]; but these gentlemen told me it would be a great result 
of my mission in the United States, if I could convince Americans that 
Englishmen thought all differences had vanished, and they desired to 
go hand in hand with the people of the United States as regards 
foreign policy. Now, I have observed that in New England there is 
less objection to the policy of an alliance with England than in many 
other parts of the United States; and I take it for an evidence of the 
intelligence and liberality of the people. 

“I hope, gentlemen, I have not too much taken your time. [Cries 
of “ 0, no ! ” “ Go on ! ” “ Go on! ”] I have not been eloquent; 

I intended not to be eloquent; only justly true. I cannot express to 
you better my thanks, gentlemen, than in those memorable words of 
John Adams to Attorney-general Sewall,— 1 Sink or swim , survive 
or perish , but with my country .’ [Enthusiastic cheers.] 

“I know, gentlemen, you have been pleased to honor me, not for 
myself,— for the people of Massachusetts are not man-worshippers, 
but only reverence principles,— therefore I cannot better express my 
thanks than to pledge my word, relying, as on another occasion of 
deep interest I have said, upon the justice of our cause , the blessing 
of God , iron wills , stout arms , and good swords ) and upon your 
generous sympathy, to do all in my power, with my people, for my 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


119 


country and for humanity; for which, indeed, in my heart, though it 
is somewhat old, there is yet warmth.” 

The above is little more than a sketch of this great speech, of which, 
indeed, it would have been nearly impossible to have made a full and 
accurate report. Kossuth spoke, extemporaneously, for two hours and 
a half, with the most wonderful ease and animation, pouring forth an 
unbroken stream of historical and personal narrative, and of political 
argument, which held the company enchained, to an unusually late 
hour, so completely, that very many persons from neighboring towns 
preferred to miss the last train of cars, and remain all night in Boston, 
rather than lose any portion of his speech. Nothing could be more 
exquisite than the grace of Kossuth’s action and demeanor, while 
speaking. He appeared to feel perfectly at home; and, indeed, though 
the company embraced the widest diversity of opinion on the subject 
of non-intervention, the applause was frequently entirely unanimous. 

The sixth toast was : 

“ Hungary: Down-trodden and oppressed, she has proved herself 
worthy to be free by the virtue and valor of her sons. Justice and the 
law of nations demand for her fair play, in her struggle for inde¬ 
pendence.” 

M. Pulszky was called upon to respond, which he did in the follow¬ 
ing manner: 

PULSZKY’S SPEECH. ' 

11 Gentlemen : It is with pleasure that I rise to acknowledge the 
proposed sentiment, because it reminds me of the glorious moment 
when it first was uttered. It was the Hon. William R. King, the 
senator of Alabama, the President of the Senate, the cautious, well- 
tried statesman, who, at the Congressional banquet in Washington, 
greeted Governor Kossuth with those very words, which embody all 
we require from the United States,— fair play, neither more nor less. 
We don’t want the United States to take up arms for us; we are able 
to fight our enemy single-handed, without foreign aid. We do not 
require even so much as the great sons of Massachusetts, Benjamin 
Franklin and John Adams, got from France; we require but that the 
United States should grant us fair play. Will they do it? Will the 
august body whose president gave us such hopes fulfil them ? I have 
seen a great part of the Union, from the shores of the Atlantic to the 
banks of the Missouri, from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico; and 


120 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


everywhere the warm-hearted people greeted us with affectionate 
sympathy. But many a politician told us openly, 4 We feel sincere 
interest in the cause of European liberty; we should be happy if the 
land of our forefathers, the Old World, could enjoy the blessings of 
liberty; but Europe is unfit for freedom; the nations are at the feet of 
despots, who, for their own sake, will protect their material prosperity, 
and maintain peace and order necessary for the development of wealth, 
commerce, and industry. All the efforts of Kossuth are but galvan¬ 
izing a dead corpse, and without any possibility of success; they will 
ruin him, and those who associate their fate to his enterprise. He 
says that two millions of dollars *tvould be sufficient to carry out his 
designs. Had we but the conviction that two millions would secure 
liberty to the continent of Europe, we would raise them in a month. 
What are two millions, for a people like ours ? But we have no faith 
in the establishment of liberty in Europe; we must therefore give a 
cold shoulder to him, and discourage the sympathies of the people, 
which cannot be of avail. Despotism is rampant in Europe; and we 
must try to make the best of it, though our heart is deeply moved by 
Kossuth’s patriotism and eloquence.’ 

“ This is the policy of many an influential man; and, having given 
this tone, their underlings are going on to attack the governor person¬ 
ally with calumnies and misrepresentations, whilst even the Austrian 
court-martial is not so mean as to attack his personal character. 
Well, I cannot impart faith to those who have none, although they 
know faith can move mountains. But my faith in the future of my 
country is unshakable, because I have drawn it from the pure fountain 
of knowledge,— from history. Hungary ever has been the soil of the 
martyrs and the land of the free; and, whenever our enemies succeeded 
in fettering us, we always broke the chains asunder. Our fathers had 
already armed themselves to resist the encroachments of the Emperor 
Joseph, when he retracted his unlawful orders. Our grandfathers bled 
for liberty under Rakoczky, and their fathers and grandfathers had 
driven back the double-faced eagle,— this emblem of the double-faced 
policy of Vienna,— as often as it dived through the air on Hungary, 
to feast upon its liberty, believing her dead because subdued for a 
moment. 

“ You know the history of Robert Bruce. Defeated and humbled 
down by his enemies, fleeing before them, concealed in a rock cave, he 
saw a spider climbing up the uneven wall, to reach the spot where it 
was to spread its net. Six times it fell down from the rocky surface, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


121 


but the seventh time it reached its aim. This was a lesson for the 
despondent Bruce. The spider taught him one word,— again , and 
ever again ) — and he freed his country. And again , and ever 
again , is our motto, too, gentlemen; and Bruce’s spider is the em¬ 
blem of Hungary’s perseverance. 

“ But it is not only the vitality of the Hungarian nation which im¬ 
parts to us the strength of unshakable faith. It is the growing senti¬ 
ment of the solidarity of nations which pervades mankind. The 
isolation of old, when every nation fought for herself, and regarded 
liberty as her exclusive privilege, has given way to the conviction that 
liberty is like the air which we breathe,— the common necessity for 
whole humanity, which, if impaired in one quarter by the pestilential 
exhalations of despotism, carries destruction everywhere, all over the 
nations bound by the sacred tie of Christian civilization; and the peo¬ 
ple of America feel instinctively this law of moral nature, or what else 
could be the reason of the great lesson which even this banquet, here 
in Faneuil Hall, gives to the despots of the earth ? Whilst, in ancient 
times, the conqueror was led in triumph through the capital of the 
world, and the vanquished chiefs had to pass under the ignominious 
yoke, it is now the victor for whom public opinion has raised the yoke 
of ignominy, and the vanquished is led to the capital, and receives the 
acclamations of the people. To the conqueror, the spoils, the curse 
of the present, oblivion forever; to the vanquished, the laurels, the 
blessings of the nations, the destinies of the future. [Cheers.] 

“ Gentlemen, allow me to offer a sentiment. 

“America: As good in her deeds as in her words,— securing fair 
play to Hungary.” 

The seventh toast was: 

“Austria: May her double-headed eagles peck out each other’s 
eyes, so that they may never again gloat on the blood-stained moun¬ 
tains and plains of Hungary ! ” 

The eighth: 

“ Turkey: Her noble hospitality, extended to the Hungarian chief, 
even at the imminent risk of war, shames the timid Christian nations 
which hesitate to profess the principle upon which she acted.” 

The ninth: 

“'The Press: The first weapon which Kossuth wielded against 
Austrian despotism. With that he roused his countrymen, not only 

11 


122 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


to defend their own rights, hut to respect the rights of others. The 
journalists of free America should hail him as a brother, and support 
him as the great champion of free thought, free speech, a free press, 
and a free world.” 

Colonel Schouler, of the Boston Atlas, responded to this sentiment 
in a strain of eloquent remark, which was loudly cheered; and Elizur 
Wright, of the Commonwealth, being called on for a sentiment, said 
he felt thankful for an opportunity to unbosom his heart by a word, 
and that word he closed by the following sentiment: 

“ The War that is Coming: The friends of liberty in Europe are 
ready to furnish the muscle and the life; surely those in America can¬ 
not refuse to furnish the saltpetre and the steel.” 

The tenth: 

“ Gorgey and Arnold: The one trusted by Kossuth, and the other 
by Washington. Alike traitors to their chiefs and their country, and 
alike condemned by the united voice of the world.” 

The eleventh: 

“Lafayette and Kosciusko: They remind us of the debt due from 
the United States to the cause of liberty in the Old World.” 

The twelfth: 

“Intervention: That which rescued Lafayette from the prison of 
Olmutz, and Kossuth from the grasp of the Russian bear, is in accord¬ 
ance with the ‘ higher law ’ of nations, and worthy of all commenda¬ 
tion.” 

The thirteenth: 

“Madame Kossuth: Her sufferings and her devotion show her to 
be eminently worthy to be a martyr to her father-land, and the com¬ 
panion of her illustrious husband.” 

The fourteenth: 

“ The House of Representatives: The record of its welcome to the 
great champion of liberty is but the consecrated and harmonious voice 
of its free, enlightened, and generous constituency. Vox Populi , vox 
Dei .” 

The fifteenth: 

“Woman: In the language of our illustrious guest, the heart of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


123 


man is as soft as wax in her tender hand. May she mould it into the 
form of generous compassion for the wrongs of Hungary ! ” 

Volunteer, by W. T. Coggshall: 

“ ‘ Freedom Shrieked when Kosciusko Fell.’ More piercing would 
be its shriek, should Kossuth fall as Kosciusko did. May that fatal 
hour never come, is the earnest prayer of every friend of freedom! ” 

General Wilson having called on Judge E. R. Hoar, of Concord, 
that gentleman responded as follows : 

JUDGE hoar’s SPEECH. 

“To those of us whose ordinary duties are connected with the 
administration of wholesome laws, under a good government, and 
whose function it is to restrain the excesses of liberty, rather than to 
vindicate its existence, there is something hardly familiar in the occa¬ 
sion and the purposes of this evening. But, Mr. President, a man 
who was born by the old North Bridge of Concord, whose fathers stood 
there in arms, must be recreant to all the memories and to all the 
principles of his birthplace and his lineage, if he would not hasten to 
extend the hand of. sympathy and welcome to the guest of to-night. 

“There have been many pageants in our time, many proud days 
for our people and our state. The elder part of this assembly can 
recall to mind the reception of the Father of his Country by the people 
he had saved. Those of us who have reached middle life can remem¬ 
ber the triumphal progress of Lafayette. We have often received to 
our hospitality the great men of our own and of other lands, and have 
thronged to greet with hurras men high in official station, the possess¬ 
ors and dispensers of place and power. We are very proud of our 
old commonwealth. But, dear as she is to us, I think nothing ever 
made me feel more proud of her than what I have seen during the 
past week. Never did the heart and the spirit of her people show 
forth more fairly than in lavishing her highest honors upon an exile, 
who came to her, from disaster and defeat, with the one sufficient 
claim to welcome,— that to the cause of liberty — his cause and our 
cause — he had been faithful to the end. 

“ Mr. President, there are heights of fame to which no living man 
may aspire. To an American heart, there are memories too conse¬ 
crated, there is one name too transcendent, for parallel or comparison; 
but there are events in our history which rise with a vivid distinctness 


124 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


in a presence like this. Two men were excepted, by name, from 
General Gage’s proclamation of amnesty,— notorious rebels, who bad 
sinned beyond hope of pardon, and c whose offences were of too flagi¬ 
tious a nature to admit of any other consideration than that of condign 
punishment.’ 

“ I would say to our illustrious guest, It is because you, sir, like 
them, have learned the truth that peace is the first interest of no peo¬ 
ple ; that there are other things more sacred than human life; that 
without justice and freedom life is only a mockery, and peace a delu¬ 
sion and a burden; — it is because, when tyranny had terminated every 
duty of a subject, you, too, have dared to become the most notorious 
rebel of our time, that Massachusetts welcomes you to the home of 
Hancock and of Adams, and the majestic spirit of Washington sheds 
its benediction upon the scene ! ” 

Brief speeches were made by Messrs. Hopkins, Burlingame and 
Keyes, and, after a few closing remarks by President Wilson, Kossuth 
left the hall at half-past twelve o’clock, amid the enthusiastic cheering 
of the company. 


\ 


i 


KOSSUTH AT BUNKER HILL. 


When it was known with certainty that Kossuth was about to visit 
Massachusetts, the Mayor of Charlestown, Hon. Richard Frothingham, 
Jr., sent the following communication to the Council of that city : 

City of Charlestown , April 19, 1852. 

Gentlemen of the City Council : It is expected that Governor 
Louis Kossuth, in a few days, will visit Massachusetts. His noble 
nature, his illustrious services in the cause of Hungarian independence, 
his continued fidelity to his native land, must excite the admiration, 
command the respect, and win the sympathy, of the friends of republi¬ 
can liberty; while the enormous violation of international law by des¬ 
potic power by which so just a cause was crushed will ever be con¬ 
demned and deplored by an American public opinion. It is fit that so 
true a representative of the liberal cause of Europe should be heartily 
welcomed to Bunker Hill; and I respectfully recommend that meas¬ 
ures be taken to tender to him the hospitalities of this city. 

Richard Frothingham, Jr., Mayor. 

The board of Mayor and Aldermen of Charlestown voted to give 
Kossuth an official invitation to visit the city; but the Common Coun¬ 
cil refused to concur, by a vote of nine to six. A public meeting of 
the citizens was, in consequence, called at the City Hall on Tuesday 
night, April 2T, of which the following is the official account: 

CITIZENS’ KOSSUTH MEETING. 

The call for a meeting of those citizens in favor of extending to 
Kossuth an invitation to visit this city was enthusiastically responded 
to, and a large audience assembled. The meeting was called to order 
by P. J. Stone, Esq., and his honor the Mayor was chosen president, 
Jacob Foss, Charles Thompson and Moses B. Sewall, vice-presidents, 
and Edward Thorndike and Warren Rand, secretaries. 

A committee was chosen, consisting of Messrs. Stone, Holmes, Fair¬ 
banks, Clark, Gage and Briggs, to retire for the purpose of selecting 
a committee of arrangements, to invite Kossuth to the city, and make 
11 * 


126 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


all necessary preparations for his reception. The committee retired, 
, and, after an absence of thirty minutes, returned and reported the 
names of the following gentlemen, thirty-eight in number : 

Richard Frothingham, Jr., Henry P. Fairbanks, Jacob Foss, James 
Damon, P. B. Holmes, Oliver Smith, Thomas J. Eliott, J. Q. A. 
Griffin, P. S. Briggs, Aaron Clarke, 2d, Edward Lawrence, P. J. 
Stone, S. H. Allen, Philander Ames, James G. Fuller, G. B. Albee, 
T. T. Sawyer, Geo. P. Sanger, S. W. ‘Lewis, S. J. Thomas, Edward 
Thorndike, Wm. W. Pierce, Z. C. Howland, Jesse Stevens, John San¬ 
born, Wm. Williams, A. S. Tuttle, A. J. Locke, Ezra Brown, George 
P. Kettell, Charles Thompson, George W. Warren, Timothy Fletcher, 
Moses B. Sewall, Thomas Greenleaf, Addison Gage, Ichabod Lindsey, 
Jesse Gay. 

J. Q. A. Griffin, Esq., was called to the stand, and read the follow¬ 
ing resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : 

11 Resolved, That we assemble to-night to promulgate no new doc¬ 
trine, to achieve no new purpose, to stimulate to no new action; but 
that we come together to reaffirm the principles which Bunker Hill for 
more than three-quarters of a century has so nobly claimed relation¬ 
ship with, and which have ever found a residence in the bosoms of 
her sons. 

11 Resolved, That the advent to New England of the Hungarian 
governor, illustrious not less by his enlarged learning and comprehensive 
mind, than by his signal services for freedom and the republican prin¬ 
ciple, is an opportunity which a free people should seize upon with 
alacrity for the exercise of a magnanimous hospitality, in order that 
they may testify to the struggling nations of the earth, wherever they 
may exist, that their attachment is to the principle, and not simply to 
the name, of freedom. 

u Resolved, That in the Hungarian governor, though he comes, to us 
from a distant land, heralded by his great achievements in the almost 
forlorn cause of his country’s freedom, and persecuted by the machina¬ 
tions of the enemies of both his country and his cause, we recognize 
one whom no nation can claim as its own, but who is the common 
property of mankind; and of him can properly be said, as of him 
whose blood first moistened our soil in our own great contest for 
republican liberty, that ‘wheresoever among men a heart shall be 
found that beats to the transports of patriotism and liberty, its aspira¬ 
tions shall be to claim kindred with thy spirit.’ 

“ Resolved, That to those who spurn the Hungarian and his cause, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


127 


to those whose policy towards him is marked by niggardly ill will and 
contracted prejudices, to those who seal up their sympathies and resist 
the natural promptings of their hearts agreeably to the behests of fac¬ 
tion, we commend the sentiment of that mighty giant in the world of 
mind, Daniel Webster: c That the cause which they have espoused 
finds no basis in their own hearts , no succor from 'public sympa¬ 
thy , no cheering from a patriotic community. They have no 
foothold on which to stand. Everything beneath their feet is 
hollow and treacherous. They are like one struggling in a morass; 
every effort to extricate themselves will only sink -them deeper and 
deeper. And we fear the resemblance may be carried still further; 
we fear that no friend can safely come to their relief; that no one can 
approach near enough to hold out a helping hand, without danger of 
going himself down into the bottomless depths of the Serbonian bog.’ 

“ Resolved., That , we, the people of Charlestown, speaking in behalf 
of ourselves and those whom we represent, unhesitatingly declare it as 
the sentiment of that people, that Governor Kossuth represents a nation 
entitled to the most genial sympathy of all friends of republican insti¬ 
tutions t and all enemies of aristocratic tyranny; and we repudiate, as 
an unholy thing, the cowardly policy which attempts to depress the 
friends of freedom, by withholding from them that expression of respect 
which he so nobly merits, by reason of his extraordinary position on 
the theatre of the world’s action. 

“Resolved , That this assembly extends its warmest welcome to the 
Hungarian chief, and earnestly invites him to the acceptance of the 
hospitalities of the people of Charlestown. It asks him to accept the 
heartfelt thanks of all earnest souls for his magnanimous deeds, as 
expressed, not through frigid committees or municipal corporations, 
but from the hearts of the whole people. It invites him to Middlesex 
county, the earliest and most illustrious battle-field of our own Revolu¬ 
tion ; to a view of its industry, its enterprise, its intelligence; the 
legitimate fruits of that system of government which that illustrious 
man has struggled so mightily to secure in his own land. It invites 
him to that shaft which marks the spot where Warren fell, and Pres¬ 
cott and Putnam fought, for that freedom which protects and governs 
us. And, finally, it invites him to these scenes cordially and enthu¬ 
siastically, because it believes that in him the republican principle 
which has made our country great and glorious among the nations of 
the earth has a brave, determined, and able defender.” 


128 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


After the reading of the resolves, remarks were made by Messrs. 
Lindsey and Griffin, and the meeting adjourned at ten o’clock. 

In compliance with the invitation of this public meeting, Kossuth 
visited Charlestown on Monday, the 8d of May. 

At an early hour in the morning, the stars and stripes were dis¬ 
played upon the tops of all the public buildings. Many private dwell¬ 
ings and places of business were decorated with national bunting. 
Flags and pendants, floating, and in well-arranged festoons, were sus¬ 
pended across many of the streets. At the Middlesex House, the 
Hungarian and Turkish flags were prominently displayed, with that of 
the United States. 

The Mansion House made a fine display. The building was deco¬ 
rated with a variety of bunting. Over the front entrance, upon an 
arch of white ground, were the following words: “Kossuth, the 
true Expounder oe Universal Liberty.” 

The City Hall was decked in national flags. 

The Charlestown Advertiser office was most brilliantly dressed out 
in flags of various nations. Flags and festooned pennants were flung 
across the street, and danced proudly in the breeze. 4 

Across Main-street, near the junction of Harvard-street, a profu¬ 
sion of flags and pendants were suspended. In the centre was a ban¬ 
ner, upon which was a representation of the monument. Above the 
design were the following words : “ Kossuth, the Devoted Friend 
oe Hungary.” Beneath, — “ All Nations shall be Free.” 

At various places along the route through which the procession was 
to pass, were decorations of wreaths, festoons and flags, and frequently 
inscriptions of “Welcome to Kossuth.” 

At ten o’clock a deputation of gentlemen from the Charlestown 
committee of arrangements proceeded to the Revere House in car¬ 
riages, and, upon being introduced to Kossuth, conducted him to a 
barouche without, drawn by four splendid bays. Kossuth was accom¬ 
panied by Messrs. Pulszky and Ilajnik, by Captains Kalapsza and 
Grechenek; also by the Hon. Anson Burlingame, of the State Com¬ 
mittee. 

The cortege immediately proceeded to Charlestown, the draw of 
Warren Bridge being the line, where Kossuth was received by Mayor 
Frothingham, chairman of the committee of arrangements, a battalion 
of military, consisting of the Charlestown Artillery and the City 
Guards, Capt. George P. Sanger commanding. 

At this point, Mr. Burlingame, in behalf of the State Committee, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


129 


resigned his charge to Mayor Frothingham and II. P. Fairbanks, Esq., 
president of the Common Council, as the guest of the people of Charles¬ 
town. The procession then took up its line of march, and proceeded 
through the principal streets of the city, to Monument-square, on 
Breed s Hill. The streets along the route were thronged with people, 
who greeted Kossuth with hearty cheers, as he passed. The windows 
and doors of every dwelling were crowded with ladies, whose “welcome 
to Kossuth” sparkled from their bright eyes, while thousands of white 
handkerchiefs were waved in honor of the illustrious Magyar. Against 
the west side of the monument was erected an immense platform, upon 
which, at an early hour, were seated about one hundred ladies, the 
wives and daughters of the committee of arrangements. 

Flags of all nations w T ere suspended from the top of the monument 
to the iron fence on the north and south, forming a pyramid; and from 
each window at its top was displayed the flag of the United States. 

In order to afford opportunities to see the localities, the route of the 
procession w T as by Bunker Hill, over which Prescott and his patriot 
band passed on their way to Breed’s Hill. Throughout the route, 
Kossuth made minute and intelligent inquiries as to the localities. In 
answer, he was pointed to places where the various batteries fired on 
the town; w r as halted where the great British fort was planted on 
Bunker Hill, and again where the rail fence ran to the Mystic river; 
and from the summit of this hill he eagerly inquired the position of 
the American army, as it for so many months lay on the heights around 
Boston. “ The army in Boston ten months, and never made one sally! ” 
was his exclamation of surprise. lie remarked that the American 
“Yankee Hoodie” w T as an old familiar tune of father-land,— that of 
the Hungarian esarda of its popular dances. 

From the scene of the gallant resistance at the rail fence, he passed 
to the site of the redoubt, when he remarked, with feeling and admira¬ 
tion, on the cool bearing of the noble Prescott. He enjoyed highly 
the loud huzzas of welcome from a cordon of fifteen hundred children 
of the schools arranged on the banks of the Monument-square; but 
when, passing the ranks of the fine battalion, he ascended the platform, 
amidst the sound of patriotic music, the firing of cannon, the ringing 
of the bells, the waving of flags from the monument, and saw nearly 
the entire area in front of him completely packed with the multitude, 
and heard their huzzas, he expressed his admiration and joy at the 
spectacle. The scene was one of beauty and grandeur. Not less than 
fifteen thousand persons were gathered round the platform, from which 


180 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Kossuth could see not only the assemblage he was about to address, 
but the decorated city beneath, and the neighboring metropolis, with its 
girdle of populous towns and cities. At twelve o’clock, the mayor 
addressed Kossuth as follows: 

MAYOR FROTHINGHAM’S ADDRESS. 

“Governor Kossuth: In behalf of the citizens of Charlestown, 
I bid you a cordial welcome to this memorable place. 

“ We stand on America’s classic ground. The waters that flow 
beneath us, and every hill-top and valley that spread out in a beautiful 
amphitheatre around us, have their story of the men who perilled and 
suffered for the cause of freedom. [Cheers.] Here was fought the 
first great battle of the war of the Revolution; there [pointing to 
Cambridge], near the shades of our venerable Harvard, Washington 
stood when he first drew his sword in that great struggle; on yonder 
summit [pointing to Prospect Hill], when our old thirteen colonies 
had united to form our early country, the Union flag of the thirteen 
stripes was first unfurled to the battle and the breeze; and it was over 
our proud metropolis that this flag, for the first time, waved in triumph 
behind a retreating foe. [Cheers.] 

“ Welcome, great patriot, to these enkindling associations ! Your 
noble nature, your fidelity to principle, your labors, triumphs, perils 
and sufferings, in your country, and your continued and untiring devo¬ 
tion, in exile, to the cause of your father-land, proclaim you to be of 
kindred spirit with the immortal men whose heroism, in a day of bap¬ 
tism of fire and blood, hallowed this soil forever to the lovers of lib¬ 
erty! [Cheers.] Welcome, illustrious exile, to the sacred inspiration, 
to the awakening power, of this consecrated spot! 

“And as, to bid you welcome, we come forth from our happy homes, 
from our schools of learning and our altars of religion, from the shops 
of a thriving industry and the marts of a prosperous commerce, it is 
in the full enjoyment of the fruits of political freedom, the quickening 
power of the principle of liberty animating all into its varied life. 
Would it were thus with brave and unfortunate Hungary ! How can 
be expressed what here was felt at those occurrences that deprived 
your people of their rights, and made you an exile from home and 
country! We know the story of your eventful struggle. We see 
exhibited in it the traits of love of freedom, of chivalrous heroism, of 
undying attachment to ancient rights and liberties, of noble self-sacri- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


131 


fice, that marked our own great contest. We saw you, animated by 
the glorious antecedent of a thousand years’ enjoyment of municipal 
institutions, gallantly carve your way, with your own good swords, to 
national independence, and thereby acquire the right of ordaining your 
own institutions. But then came the foreign interference with your 
internal affairs, when your territory was invaded and your independ¬ 
ence was destroyed by the armies of the Czar. An indignant American 
public opinion must ever pronounce that interference to have been an 
enormous violation of national law [cheers]; and also pronounce that 
each nation has a right to make or to unmake its government, free from 
interference by any foreign power. [Cheers.] 

“ Honored sir, I feel how inadequate are my poor w T ords to serve 
such an occasion as to welcome the representative man of the cause 
of liberty in the Old World, on the soil where that cause in the New 
World first met the shock of regular conflict. Fortunately, the want 
is supplied. 1 The powerful speaker stands motionless before us.’ 
[Pointing to the monument.] This majestic column was solemnly 
dedicated 1 to the spirit of national independence.’ Its speech to-day 
is of welcome and encouragement to the illustrious exile whose life is 
devoted to this noble cause. [Tremendous cheering.] 

“ God speed on your great work, and grant that Hungary may soon 
again stand independent among the family of nations, and receive you 
as her rightful governor ! ” 

kossuth’s speech on bunker hill. 

“ My voice shrinks from the task to mingle with the awful pathos 
of that majestic orator ! [Pointing to the monument.] Silent like the 
grave, and yet melodious like the song of immortality upon the lips 
of cherubim,— a senseless, cold granite, and yet warm with inspira¬ 
tion like a patriot’s heart,— immovable like the past, and yet stirring 
like the future, which never stops,—it looks like a prophet, and speaks 
like an oracle. And thus it speaks: 

“ ‘ The day I commemorate is the rod with which the hand of the 
Lord has opened the well of liberty. Its waters will flow; every new 
drop of martyr blood will increase the tide. Despots may dam its 
flood, but never stop it. The higher its dam, the higher the tide ; it 
will overflow, or break through. Bow, and adore, and hope ! ’ 

“ Such are the words which come to my ears; and I bow, I adore, 
I hope I 


132 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“In bowing, my eyes meet the soil of Bunker Hill,— that awful 
opening scene of the eventful drama to which Lexington and Concord 
had been the preface ! S 

“ The spirits of the past rise before my eyes. I see Richard Gridley 
hastily planning the intrenchments. I hear the dull, cold, blunt sound 
of the pick-axe and spade in the hands of the patriot band. I hear the 
patrols say that 1 all is well.’ I see Knowlton raising his line of rail 
fence, upon which soon the guns will rest, that the bullets may prove 
to their message true. I see the tall, commanding form of Prescott 
marching leisurely around the parapet, inflaming the tired patriots 
with the classical words that those who had the merit of the labor 
should have the honor of the victory. I see Asa Pollard fall, the first 
victim of that immortal day; I see the chaplain praying over him; 
and now the roaring of cannon from ships and from batteries, and the 
blaze of the burning town, and th& thrice-renewed storm, and the per¬ 
severing defence, till powder was gone, and but stones remained. And 
I see Warren telling Elbridge Gerry that it is sweet and fair to die for 
the father-land. I see him lingering in his retreat, and, struck in the 
forehead, fall to the ground ; and Pomeroy, with his shattered musket 
in his brave hand, complaining that he remained unhurt, when War¬ 
ren had to die; and I see all the brave who fell unnamed, unnoticed 
and unknown, the nameless corner-stones of American independence ! 

“ All the spirits of that most eventful victory under the name of 
defeat,— I see them all! The eyes of my soul are familiar v T ith the 
spirits of martyrs of liberty. But those I see around me have no/ m 
sad, ghostly look; they bear no gushing wounds crying for revenge* to 
the Almighty God; the smile of eternal bliss is playing around their 
lips, and, though dwellers of heaven, they like to visit the place where 
their blood w T as spilt. It w r as not spilt in vain ; their father-land is 
free, and there is a joy in that thought, adding ever new charm even 
to the happiness of blessed souls. As the fabulous divinities of 
ancient Greece like to rest from the charms of heaven on Mount 
Olympus, so must the spirit of Warren like to rest on the top of this 
monument here. 

“ Martyrs of my country ! how long v T ill it yet be till a like joy 
will thrill through your departed souls ? When will the smile of that 
joy play around your lips ? How long will yet the gush of your 
wounds cry for revenge,— your father-land still bleeding, down¬ 
trodden, oppressed ? There is a sorrow in that thought, casting the 
gloom of sadness even over the bliss of Paradise. 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


133 


“ Almighty Father of mankind, let the day of thy mercy be not too 
far! 

“ Excuse my emotion, gentlemen; the associations of my ideas are 
natural. Your Bunker Hill and our Kapolna are twins: -— both called 
defeats, and both eventual victories; both resulting in the declaration 
of an independence; but yours acknowledged before it was achieved, 
and supported by foreign aid,— ours not acknowledged even when 
achieved, and meeting foreign aggression instead of aid. 

£{ Well, past is past, and cannot be changed; but the future is open 
yet; and often I have bowed before the recollections of this hallowed 
ground. I adore the Almighty with unfaltering hope. Part of my 
hope rests in the justice of him who rules the universe, and holds in 
his hands the destinies of mankind and of men. My people’s suffer¬ 
ings are recorded in the book of his eternal decrees, and the tears of 
my people numbered in his scale. I trust to him. 

“ Part of my hope rests with our own selves. We know that God 
helps those that help themselves, and we will. We look not for un¬ 
merited good luck, but for well-merited reward; and we decided to 
merit it. Allow me to say that I am proud of my people,— proud 
not only of its past, but proud of its present also. An exile heart not 
often does rejoice; but I rejoice to know how my people behaved,— 
greater and nobler yet, in its present sufferings, than when' it bore up 
against a world in arms, and raised its country’s name higher in its 
very fall than it stood ever in its brightest days. The responsibilities 
of my position do well guard me from easily believing what I warmly 
wish. I weigh calmly every incident; but joy is so communicative 
that I cannot forbear so much to say, — that I have reason to be proud 
of my people, and bow with profound veneration at its name. The 
tidings I receive entitle me to say, ‘ Young Nero, in Vienna’s old 
walls, thou may’st rage, and pour the embers of thy fury over my peo¬ 
ple’s head; thou may’st raise thy scaffold, and people thy dungeons 
with thousands of new victims, and drain the life-sweat of my people, 
and whip it with the iron rod of thy unparalleled tyranny; — I defy thee 
to break my people’s high-minded spirit! Foolish boy ! thou may’st 
torture my family,— break the heart of my old mother, murder my 
sisters, and send forth thy assassins against him w T ho, with ill-fated 
but honest generosity, once saved thy crown. Thou may’st do all thou 
canst! — thy days are numbered; thy power is falling, and my country 
will be free ! ’ 

“ But part of my hope rests also with you, Americans. The distin- 

12 


134 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


guished patriot whom the genius of his powerful mind and the confi¬ 
dence of his native land entitled to act the part of interpreter of his 
people’s sentiments at the inauguration of this monument, has but 
spoken an irrefutable truth when he said that the results of the battle 
of Bunker Hill will continue to rain influence not only upon your 
country, hut upon the world. And, indeed, he was right to say, that 
at the rising of the sun, and the setting of the sun, and the blaze of 
noon-day, and beneath the milder effulgence of lunar light, yonder 
obelisk will loolf and speak, to the fy.ll comprehension of every Ameri¬ 
can mind. 

“ It has looked and spoken for nine years, in its accomplished 
majesty. Meanwhile, you have gloriously fought the battle of active 
vitality, and extended your sway to the shores of the Pacific, uniting, 
with new ties, your own future to the destinies of the Old World. 
The comfort of indolence, small party considerations, and even the repu¬ 
tation of well-founded authority, may grasp hold of the rolling wheel 
of necessity; — the necessity will not change; and you, people of 
America, have decided to answer that necessity. I have laid my 
hand upon your people’s heart, and I have watched the logic in the 
progress of exigencies; and I dare say, with firm confidence, the fore¬ 
told instruction of that monument’s majestic eloquence is felt by the 
people’s instinct, and is fully comprehended by the intelligence of 
Massachusetts. And the new exigencies of new times will be answered 
by Massachusetts with that energy with which it has answered the 
exigencies of all former times. The Pilgrim Fathers founded a com¬ 
munity ; — the battle of Bunker Hill founded a nation; — the ap¬ 
proaching struggle for liberty in Europe will see this nation a mighty 
power on earth ! That is what we wish, and that is what I hope; and 
that hope will not, cannot fail! 

“ Gentlemen, a great crisis is approaching in the condition of the 
world; but the world is prepared for that crisis. There is a great 
change in the spirit of time, now-a-days; and I myself am an humble 
evidence of it. Principles weigh more than success; and, therefore, 
principles will meet success. 

“I remember well, when your forefathers were about to fight the 
battle of Bunker Hill, there was a periodical paper at Boston, — Tory 
Massachusettensis was its name,— which dared to say, that ‘ the annals 
of the w T orld have not yet been deformed with a single instance of so 
unnatural, causeless, wanton and wicked a rebellion.’ So it styled the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


135 


sacred cause which the Adamses, the Hancocks, advised, Washington 
led, and for which Warren bled ! 

II And now that cause fills the brightest page in the annals of 
humanity. But it w T as success, and its unparalleled results, which cast 
the lustre of that glory around it. Unsuccessful, its memory might 
have been blasted with the name of an ill-advised rebellion. 

“ Now-a-days, it is not success which makes the merit of a cause, but 
its principle. The results of the day of Bunker Hill have changed the 
basis of future history, because it gave birth to a mighty nation, whose 
very existence is the embodiment of a principle, true like truth itself, 
and lasting like eternity. 

“Itwxmld be strange, indeed, should that principle forsake itself. 
No, it will not, it cannot, do it. Great is the destiny of your nation. 
You approach it not in vain, with so successful, gigantic steps. Op¬ 
portunity will do the rest. Upon this, humanity may with confidence 
rely, and opportunity will come. Its forecast shadow is already seen. 

“I could wish, for my poor country’s sake, that you should be 
pleased to make that opportunity, having the power to do so. But I 
know great bodies move slowly, and feel consoled with the assurance 
that it will move w T hen opportunity will come. In the mean time, your 
private generosity, tendered to our unmerited misfortunes, is planning 
the w T ay; and should we not feel strong enough to create opportunity, 
supported by your benevolence, we will not be unprepared to catch it 
when it comes. 

“ It will be gratifying to your noble hearts to hear the fact that the 
reception America has honored me with, the sympathy which you 
manifest, came like a healing balm over my country’s bleeding 
wounds, and, warming my people’s heart like as the May sun warms 
the soil, added the cheerfulness of confidence to the resolution of 
patriotism. I know my people well; I know what it did, what it 
was ready to do, when it was but duty it felt. I know what it can 
do, now’ that it hopes. 

II I thank you for it, not only in my people’s name, but I am ex¬ 
pressly charged to tell the people of America that it has not spent its 
sympathy on a corpse. Hungary will answer the expectations of 
America. 

11 And here let me cut short my words. In the place here, where 
the revelation of Providence is told by the eloquence of yonder monu¬ 
ment, reasoning would be a profanation on my part. At this moment, 
my very mind is concentrated in my heart. There stands the power- 


136 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


ful orator. [Pointing to the monument.] Let his words find willing 
ears and susceptible hearts. I leave you to the influence of his elo¬ 
quence. To me, his silent speech was the harmony of an angel’s song. 
I leave this hallowed spot with consolation, joy, and confidence. The 
memory of my having stood here, honored by your attention, and 
encouraged by your sympathy, will strengthen my patience to endure, 
and my resolution to act; and though the happiness of Washington 
may not be my lot, the devotion of Warren will dwell in my breast. 

“ With this resolution, I once more thank you, and bid you cor¬ 
dially farewell.” 

Soon after the conclusion of his speech, Kossuth ascended the 
monument, to gaze upon the splendid views from the openings near the 
top. On descending, he, with his companions, w r as escorted to the 
residence of the mayor, where a number of the principal citizens of 
Charlestown were introduced to Kossuth. After a sumptuous repast, 
the Hungarians returned to Boston, and reached the Revere House at 
two o’clock, p. M. 


KOSSUTH IN THE GRAND LODGE. 

Kossuth being a Free Mason, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts 
invited him to visit the Masonic Temple, on Monday evening, May 3. 
A very large number of the brethren assembled on the occasion. Rev. 
Mr. Randall, the Most Worshipful Grand Master, presided; and, 
after the preliminaries were gone through with, he arose and addressed 
liis illustrious brother as follows: 

“It affords me very great pleasure to meet you, my honored 
brother, within the walls of this temple, and, in the name of the fra¬ 
ternity over which I have the honor to preside, to bid you a hearty 
welcome to the Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
the oldest Grand Lodge on this continent, and the parent of Free 
Masonry in this hemisphere. 

“It has been the office of others, and in other places, to hail you as 
the eloquent advocate of the principles of popular liberty, and the 
champion of the freedom of your own dear but oppressed Hungary; 
but it is our peculiar privilege to greet you under the endearing appel¬ 
lation of Brother, —to extend to you that hand which lies as near the 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


137 


heart when it is given to the virtuous and patriotic exile, who flies 
from the oppressions of tyranny, as when it is raised to cheer the 
good and the great, in the hour of triumphant success. 

u men > we cannot be unmindful of the wants and the wrongs of 
our fellow-men. As American men, we have a strong sympathy — and 
as long as we are worthy of that noble name, we always must have a 
strong and an abiding sympathy—for those nations of the earth who are 
struggling for what the Almighty has decreed to be the birthright of 
ail who have been created in his own image. While the principles of 
our institution forbid the introduction of questions of religion and poli¬ 
tics, on which its members are necessarily divided,— while we guard 
our doors with a jealous vigilance against what does not belong to our 
institution, and which would compromise its character, and ruin its 
influence, by separating brethren, breaking the golden chain of fra¬ 
ternal unity, and thus hinder the great work of sacred charity which 
constitutes the bond and the purpose of our society — yet, as Masons, 
we may cherish and express a deep interest in those marvellous move¬ 
ments of the age which involve the happiness and the progress of the 
nations of the earth. 

“ Be assured, my brother, we have not been indifferent spectators of 
the struggles in which you have been called, by the providence of God, 
to act so conspicuous a part. We sympathized with you and with your 
country w T hen the sound of your name and the report of your cause 
first reached our shores ; nor need I say that that sympathy has been 
in no wise diminished, since to the respect which we owe to the virtu¬ 
ous, and the honor we pay to the patriotic, has been added the feeling 
of fraternal regard. 

11 Allow me, my distinguished brother, to congratulate you on your 
introduction within the pale of the oldest and largest society of human 
origin; a society which, while it is so memorable for its antiquity, is 
so honorable in its associations, elevating in its aims, and so beneficial 
in the results of its labors ; a society whose members are found in all 
lands, of every faith in religion, and of every party in politics. Of 
this ancient and honorable family you have now become a member, and 
to its benefits and its enjoyments we bid you a sincere welcome. 

u Providence saw fit to allow you to receive tuition from a very 
severe schoolmaster, and within the walls of a very contracted school¬ 
room, in the fortress of Buda, that you might learn that language 
which was to be the medium for the transmission of your eloquent 
appeals to the Anglo-Saxon race; but, beneath the smiling skies of the 
12 * 


138 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


New World, with kind brethren for your teachers, you have learned 
another language, which is limited to no one nation or quarter of the 
globe; which constitutes a passport that no act of tyranny can destroy; 
a language which, while it addresses the eye or the ear, goes straight 
to the heart, and opens the fountain of love, and wakes up the con¬ 
science, if it be found asleep, and calls and secures a friend when a 
friend is needed. 

“ I congratulate you on your union with a society, which teaches 
Morality , Brotherly Love , Relief and Truth , as its first principles ; 
which is ever inculcating faith in God, hope in immortality, and char¬ 
ity to all mankind; whose lessons of morality are drawn from God’s 
eternal Word; whose work is to relieve the distressed, and comfort 
the afflicted; whose precepts are the lessons of love and loyalty,— 
duty to God, to ourselves, to our country, and to our fellow-men; a 
society that throws its arms around the friendless stranger, and makes 
him feel that he has found a home in a land of strangers ; a society 
which takes the orphan by the hand, and protects the widow in her 
desolation, and proves itself a friend to whom they may look for coun¬ 
sel and for relief! 

“ Although this society does not recognize any one form of religious 
faith, nor permit the discussion of religious differences in its assem¬ 
blies, yet it rests upon principles that constitute the foundation of all 
true religion; and, though it suffers no note of political strife to mar 
the harmony of its labors, yet the influence of its instructions, and its 
practices, is to foster a spirit of enlightened liberty, by teaching the 
natural equality of all mankind, their common duties, and their com¬ 
mon destinies. It has always flourished best where the light of gen¬ 
eral intelligence has been most diffused, and the sun of civil liberty 
shone brightest. 

“ Nowhere has this institution flourished more than in England and 
in the United States; and nowhere are the principles of civil and 
religious liberty better understood and more fully enjoyed, nowhere are 
the people more intelligent or more happy. On the other hand, no¬ 
where has Free Masonry been more violently denounced, and its mem¬ 
bers more bitterly persecuted, than in those nations of the earth where 
the iron heel of despotism is placed upon the necks of a degraded peo¬ 
ple. In proportion to the intelligence of a nation, the purity of its reli¬ 
gion, and liberality of its government, has this fraternity, as a general 
rule, flourished. This is not because it inculcates definite political 
principles, or teaches any specific form of religious faith; but it has 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


139 


incorporated into its very constitution that which is the life of all lib¬ 
erty, and the fountain of all religion. Its great light is God’s Eternal 
Word. This lies always open upon its altar. This is the charter of 
all true liberty, the source and the support of all true elevation. It 
is a light which leads the people that follow it to that glorious height 
of intelligent independence, from which no hand of the oppressor can 
strike them down. Hence all despots, who rely for their power upon 
the ignorance or the superstition of the people, are the natural enemies 
of this institution, and always will be. They are afraid of it. Not 
altogether because it is secret ,—for they know, or they may know, that 
it is open to all w r ho are worthy and well qualified, even to their own 
courtiers, who may see that nothing is plotted against the safety of the 
state,— no, it is not secrecy that they fear. They dare not encourage 
or countenance a society w 7 hich inculcates human equality, and takes 
the Word of God as its supreme rule. These despots are not so afraid 
of the darkness of treason as they are of the daylight of intelligence; 
they do not dread the cabalistic signs of Free Masons, so much as they 
do the elevation of their subjects. 1 They are in great fear, where no 
fear is.’ 

“ Thus it is that for ages Free Masonry has been outlawed in many 
of the nations of Europe. 

“In Portugal, in the last century, the bull of the Pope declared 
Free Masonry to be heresy ; and the horrors of the Inquisition were 
held up as a terror to all who should presume to declare themselves 
members of this fraternity. 

“ In Spain, Pope Clement the Twelfth issued a decree in 173T, pro¬ 
nouncing the punishment of death against all who should be found 
guilty of practising the rites of our order. In 1740, Philip the Fifth 
declared the galleys for life, or punishment of death, the award for 
Free Masons, a large number of whom he had arrested and sentenced, 
after undergoing a long confinement in the prisons of the Inquisition. 
In 1751, Ferdinand the Sixth declared Free Masonry high treason, 
punishable with death. When the troops of France took possession of 
Spain, in 1807, Masonry was relieved from the power of the oppress¬ 
or,— lodges again assembled, under the protection of Joseph Bona¬ 
parte, who had been Grand Master in France. The Grand Lodge of 
Spain met in the very hall previously occupied by their enemies of 
the Inquisition! On the fall of Bonaparte and the restoration of Fer¬ 
dinand the Seventh, came the return of the Jesuits, the reorganization 
of the Inquisition, and the exterminating process against Free Masonry. 


140 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


As late as 1824, a law was passed requiring Masons to deliver up all 
their papers and documents, or to be decreed traitors. It is said that 
in 1827 seven members of a lodge in Grenada were executed. The 
order is at present pursuing its objects without molestation. 

“ In Austria, Free Masonry is scarcely known. 

u In Russia, lodges were founded at St. Petersburg and Moscow in 
1786, and during the reign of Alexander, who was himself initiated in 
1803, the institution was in some degree prosperous ; but, on the acces¬ 
sion of Nicholas to the throne, the light of Masonry was extinguished, 
and the institution is scarcely known throughout the wide dominions of 
this proud oppressor. 

‘•In 1785, there were several lodges in Hungary. What may be the 
condition of the fraternity in that land, which has been the scene of 
struggles on which the world has been looking with the profoundest 
interest, I am not able to say. 

“ But it is grateful to turn away from this darker part of the pic¬ 
ture, and to glance for a moment at our institution in its relations 
where liberty is the people’s happy inheritance. It has been objected, 
even here, that its principles were inconsistent with the rights and 
prejudicial to the liberties of the people. What better answer can be 
made to that objection than the mention of the fact that, under Prov¬ 
idence, the master-spirits of the Revolution which secured our inde¬ 
pendence were Master Masons ? What stronger proof need we have, 
in refutation of this objection, than is found in the fact that the pen 
which drew up that ever-memorable document, the Declaration of 
Independence,— that exponent of the natural rights of man, which 
has become the pole-star of human liberty all the world over,— was 
held by a hand whose fidelity had been pledged to this institution ; and 
fifty-two , out of fifty-six, who signed that declaration, were also 
members of this fraternity; while every major-general of that patriot 
army, who bravely defended these principles, belonged to this institu¬ 
tion? We may surely ask, with great confidence, who understood the 
principles of civil liberty better, or loved them more, than this band 
of patriots, who pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred 
honors, in defence of them ? This they did, not, indeed, because they 
were Masons,— since others were equally brave on the other side, who 
were also members of this fraternity, but who were equally loyal to 
their own government; thus showing that patriotism and loyalty to 
government, and devotion to the rights of man, were perfectly consist¬ 
ent with a strong attachment to an institution, where men — even 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


141 


brethren — may be entirely divided in their views of political policy 
and civil duties. 

“When I turn my eye to that golden casket [pointing to a golden 
urn containing a lock of the hair of General Washington, presented to 
the Grand Lodge by Mrs. Washington], which has been intrusted to 
my keeping as Grand Master of this Grand Lodge, I am reminded of 
him who, though ‘ first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of 
his countrymen,’ and whom all men must be content to approach 'proximo 
longo intervallo , and whom American men delight to call the c Father 
of his Country,’ yet wore that emblem of innocence and badge of a 
Mason, more ancient as well as more honorable than the golden fleece 
or Roman eagle; who, when the American army was encamped in a 
neighboring town, at the very commencement of the Revolutionary 
struggle, sat as a private member of a lodge with an orderly sergeant 
for his master,— and that, too, at a time when he was as much the dic¬ 
tator of his country as Caesar was of 'Rome. When I turn from this 
precious relic to that speaking picture [a portrait of General Warren], I 
behold the memorial of him who for five years held the office of Grand 
Master of this Grand Lodge,— the beloved and lamented Warren, who, 
on the 17th day of June, 1775, went forth to yonder height, at his 
country’s call, to spill his martyr-blood in defence of the cause of 
American liberty. With such soldiers in the field, and such wisdom 
in the council, as distinguished him, who 

* Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis,’ 

our liberties were secured, under the smiles of that Providence which 
never forsakes a righteous cause. When these men, and such as 
these, were found firm friends of Masonry, as they were firm friends 
of their country, it is not strange that we proudly claim this fact as a 
demonstration of the truth, that Masonry and liberty may go, and do 
go, hand in hand. 

“From the boastings that we have heard, of late years, one would 
imagine that the sentiment, ‘ Liberty , Equality , Fraternity ,’ has 
been just discovered, and the French nation were entitled to the honor 
of this discovery. But this sentiment is an old principle in this ancient 
institution. While that nation is amusing the world, and cursing 
itself, by alternately writing it upon its banners and its monuments, 
and then erasing it, as if principles had changed or could change, we 
have written it upon the pillars of our order, with the diamond of 


142 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


truth, in such characters that no red and reeking hand of Jacobin infi¬ 
delity can ever blot it out. 

“ In this country I am happy to say that our order is in a highly 
flourishing condition. Yet even here, in this land of liberty, it has 
not always and altogether been free from the trials to which, as you 
very well know, every good cause is exposed. The fires of persecu¬ 
tion have been lighted up here, even here, under the very eaves of 
Faneuil Hall, and within sight of Bunker Hill! But they have burnt 
out. They lasted as long as there were any wood, hay and stubble, to 
be found in or about the temple; and have, in the end, done our insti¬ 
tution a purifying service. The only inconvenience that we have suffered 
from it is, that, in consequence of the flame and smoke, our good old 
State of Massachusetts received a slight mesmeric shock, and became 
for a short time a little bewildered. And, while in this condition, she 
unfortunately mistook one of her best friends for an enemy, and, in 
yielding to her temporary caprice, we gave up our charter; and, though 
she has long ago recovered from this delusion, she has forgotten to 
return it. 

“I will not longer detain my brethren from the feast which they 
came to enjoy. Again, my honored brother, I bid you a hearty and 
a Masonic welcome to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts ! 

“ Brethren! I introduce to you our distinguished brother from 
Hungary.” 

At the conclusion of this address, Kossuth arose and replied sub¬ 
stantially as follows: 

“ M. W. Grand Master: I cannot express my thanks and heart¬ 
felt feelings to you and the fraternity, for your kind invitation to visit 
you, and the welcome manner with which I have been received. 

“From early youth I was predisposed, by my sentiments and 
religious inclinations, to search out truth; and, when found and seen, 
to follow it* with faith all the rest of my life. I felt myself under 
engagements to the Almighty to pursue this course, and commit myself 
to his guidance. From the benevolent sentiments and interest which 
the fraternity took in my welfare, opportunity was offered me to enter 
an institution ennobled by the highest principles of humanity, and 
great names in history. Blessed idea! deserving to be engraved for¬ 
ever on the memory. For the principles of our institution are not 
contrary to the principles of freedom and humanity; but, in my opin- 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


143 


ion, they tend to promote and strengthen the welfare of the commu¬ 
nity, as you have this evening taught us in your eloquent address. 
Still, M. W. Grand Master, I must confess that I shall leave this hall 
with new treasures in my heart and in my mind, which your wisdom 
has imparted, sacred with many historic recollections of Bohemia, 
where, I must confess, Free Masonry has continued still to find a field 
w*orthy of its character; yet, I am sorry to say, it suffers degradation 
and oppression in other provinces. Wherever founded and fostered, so 
as once to take root, whatever may be the opposition to its prevalence, 
it has still kept its root. As to my own country, the members of the 
house of Austria have ruled my native land, by our own free choice, 
for three centuries; and only Joseph II. had the reputation of being a 
Mason, and promoting the Masonic fraternity. Free Masonry then 
flourished in Hungary; but it has since been put down. One principle 
you have alluded to, M. W.,— brotherly love; it was forgotten by 
Our oppressors. All has vanished like a dream, and taken no deep 
root in the soil of my nation. It was tom up by the hand of violence. 
Few, very few, lodges exist in Hungary; so far as I know, scarcely 
three. When called, a short time since, to be governor, I know the 
times were then too full of danger for Masonry to prosper; for they 
were sharp times to us all, full of danger, full of trials, and were not 
such as to enable men to patronize our institution. 

“ M. W. Grand Master, I am no stranger to the fact that politics 
can never enter these walls. Brotherly love, relief and truth, are the 
fundamental principles of the fraternity; yet the fate of my poor 
down-trodden country deserves consideration in every heart. For, if 
man had a right to oppress his fellow-man, Free Masonry would cease 
to exist. Our entire nature requires to be independent; and, though 
our institution embraces mysteries, I would say mysteries only blind 
the intellect of those who do not understand them; — and, since I 
have joined the fraternity, I feel more strengthened in my resolution 
to serve my country faithfully, and will endeavor always to act with a 
good heart and hand, strengthened by new pledges and sacred ties,— 
ties which give more power and ability to execute the great principles 
of brotherly love and truth. Patriotism cannot be contented with 
performing merely the duties of a Mason; for not only as men, but as 
true Masons, many of the great men of your Bevolution struggled for 
liberty. Not as Masons only, but as patriots, they went into the bat¬ 
tle-field to die for their country. One whose portrait is now before 
me, who once filled the chair of the Grand Lodge, and who shed his 


144 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


blood in the first battle of your independence, thus rose to immortality: 
and so did many brethren among your chieftains and distinguished men, 
in that successful struggle. 

“ M.vW., I regard it as an honor that I am a member of your fra¬ 
ternity. I thank you cordially that you have this evening given me 
such valuable instruction on the nature of this noble institution, and 
its intimate connection with pure freedom and the just rights of man. 
They are convincing proofs that I pursued my duty when I became 
one of the brotherhood. Masonry has never flourished where a coun¬ 
try is ruled by despotism. History — the book of life — thus far 
shows that the foundation of civil liberty must lie at the bottom of an 
institution so well calculated to improve the social relations and dignify 
man. It withers away under the hand of absolutism. They cannot 
live together. Excuse me, therefore, when I raise the sign of desola¬ 
tion for my unfortunate father-land, which now suffers deeply. I go 
in her behalf, like a humble beggar, and cry to God and to man to do 
something for her, and to promote that great principle without which 
even Masonry cannot exist. 

“ My life has been full of vicissitudes. Great adversities elevate 
and dignify the mind of man. I feel for my country. To relieve her 
calamities is the grand object of my life. To enlist the sympathy of 
the w T orld in her behalf, I bow with humility to every man who has a 
human feeling in his heart, and especially to that brother who, being a 
Mason, knows the ^alue of freedom, and can feel for down-trodden 
Hungary. Be assured, whatever Masonry may be in other parts of 
continental Europe, from Russia no sun will ever rise. I appeal to 
all classes. I appeal to young men of noble inclinations, in these 
times, in this land, to feel for my unhappy country, where the oppressor 
has tried to extinguish all laws and the shadow of laws. There is 
sky, and air, and water there; but, to find the sunlight where it most 
spreads and lightens the path of freedom, we must come to America. 
In continental Europe the light goes so far,' and no further. Stars 
we know are made round, and not square. Their motion is circular 
and uniform, yet they elude our notice when clouds fill the sky. It 
is so with liberty in Europe, where darkness gathers round it. All 
who now suffer from oppression in the east look with hope to the free 
institutions of this western world: for it should be remembered that 
although this country is west of Europe, it is east of Asia; and from 
this east light may again dawn on that benighted region. 

“ But I must close. I am one of the humblest of the brethren 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


145 


among you,— an exile from a distant land ; but your kindness, and 
the generous hospitalities and great attention bestowed on me by the 
citizens of your magnificent country, I attribute to no merits of my 
own, but to a generous sympathy in the sufferings of my people. M. 
W. Grand Master and brethren, I thank you again for these distin¬ 
guished marks of your kindness. Rest assured it will be the great 
aim and effort of my life to walk worthy of the character of a Mason, 
and to fulfil the duties which devolve, according to his ability and 
rank, on every member of our noble institution.” 

During the delivery of the speech, he w T as frequently applauded. At 
the conclusion, he was introduced to each individual member. The 
meeting was a very agreeable one, and will long be remembered by 
those who had the good fortune to be present. 


KOSSUTH IN CAMBRIDGE. 

On Tuesday, May 4, Kossuth and suite, accompanied by Governor 
Boutwell, Mr. Speaker Banks and Senator Burlingame, paid a visit to 
Cambridge and Harvard University. The party started from the 
Revere House at one o’clock; and, upon invitation of Mr. Bur¬ 
lingame, proceeded immediately to the residence of his father-in-law, 
Hon. Isaac Livermore, in Cambridge, where they made a short stay, 
and then visited Harvard College, to attend the spring exhibition of 
students in the chapel of University Hall. It was near two o’clock 
when Kossuth reached the hall. Quite a number of persons were 
assembled in front and upon the steps of the building, each anxious to 
get the first look at the illustrious visiter. When Kossuth alighted 
from the carriage, one of the bystanders proposed “Three cheers for 
the Governor of Hungary ! ” and they were given in right good ear¬ 
nest. Kossuth ascended the steps, and, removing his hat from his 
head, bowed gracefully to the crowd, and was again greeted with 
cheers. He was welcomed by Professors Longfellow and Felton, who 
immediately conducted him into the hall of exhibition, which w T as 
densely packed with ladies and gentlemen. The audience arose as 
Kossuth entered, and greeted him with three times three cheers, and 
with the waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies. Kossuth ascended 
the platform, and, bowing his thanks, took a seat among the audience. 
13 



146 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


The last of the exercises was then proceeded with, which was an 
English oration on “ Unsuccessful Great Men,” by Addison Brown, 
of Bradford, Mass. The sentiments of the oration were exceedingly 
appropriate to the occasion of Kossuth’s visit. 

At the conclusion, President Sparks descended from the desk, and, 
removing his three-cornered cap from his head, took Kossuth cordially 
by the hand, and bade him welcome to the University. This cere¬ 
mony called forth three cheers more from the enthusiastic audience. 
At the request of President Sparks, Kossuth stepped forward upon 
the platform, and was again cheered by the students. 

Quiet being restored, the president said: 

u Young gentlemen of the university, and ladies and gentlemen who 
have honored the occasion with their presence, I introduce to you Louis 
Kossuth, Governor of Hungary.” [Cheers.] 

Kossuth said: 

“ Sir : I did not expect to be called upon to add the concluding 
words to the exercises of this occasion. I am confident the young 
gentlemen whose minds you, sir, conduct in the paths of learning, 
will prove, through their future life, true to freedom. The welfare, 
security and happiness, of a country, has no stronger guarantee than 
the intelligence of its citizens. Education is the greatest benefit a 
country is able to bestow. The only gratitude that humanity and 
their country will ask of these young men is, that they will ever con¬ 
serve a warm sentiment of liberty, and will never employ their efforts 
in any other direction than will promote their country’s welfare and 
the rights of humanity. I will ever preserve a pleasant recollection 
that, during my short stay in this vicinity, I have seen the place where 
the minds of young men receive that stamp of intelligence which is 
the particular mark of the people throughout Massachusetts.” [Tre¬ 
mendous cheering.] 

At the conclusion of his remarks, Kossuth stepped down from the 
platform, and was introduced by President Sparks and Governor Bout- 
well to ex-President Everett, Professor Agassiz, Professor Eelton, 
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, General Cushing, Rev. Dr. Parkman, and 
several members of the Board of Overseers. 

From the colleges, Kossuth proceeded to the residence of the Rev. 
Dr. Charles Lowell, the father of the poet Lowell, and of Mrs. Put¬ 
nam, whose articles in the Christian Examiner rendered such essen¬ 
tial service to the cause of Hungary, by refuting the fallacies and mis- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


147 


representations of the North American Review. The interview of the 
Hungarian chieftain and the eminent and venerable divine was extremely 
affecting. Dr. Lowell was in very feeble health, but his strong sym¬ 
pathy with the cause of Hungary and of freedom called forth all his 
wonted energy of mind and body. He welcomed Kossuth in the 
warmest manner; expressed the highest admiration for his character 
and conduct; and, finally, placing his hands upon the head of the exiled 
patriot, prayed that God would bless him and his noble cause. Kos¬ 
suth, in reply, spoke of his gratitude to Mrs. Putnam, for the zeal, 
learning and ability, with which she had vindicated his country; and 
regretted that her absence from the country prevented him from 
paying his respects to her in person. 

Kossuth also called upon President Sparks and upon Charles Russell 
Lowell, Esq., Dr. Lowell’s eldest son, at whose house a large company 
of ladies and gentlemen had assembled in order to see him. Here he 
was presented with one hundred dollars “ material aid,” by William 
A. White, on behalf of a lady of Cambridge, who did not wish her 
name to be known. At five p. M. he returned to Boston. 


KOSSUTH IN LOWELL. 


On Wednesday, May 5, at half-past twelve o’clock, Kossuth and 
suite, accompanied by Messrs. Hopkins and Kimball of the State Com¬ 
mittee, Mr. Beard of the Senate, Mr. Brown of the House, Messrs. 
Abbott and Chesley of Lowell, and several other gentlemen, left Bos¬ 
ton in an extra train, at half-past twelve, for the city of Lowell. The 
car in which they were seated was decorated with Hungarian flags. 

In about three-quarters of an hour the train reached Lowell, and 
Kossuth was introduced to a reception committee on a platform near 
the depot by Mayor Huntington, amid the roar of cannon, and the 
plaudits of as many thousands of spectators as could find room on the 
neighboring streets, cliffs, and roofs. No speeches were made, and in 
a few moments Kossuth was escorted to his carriage; and, as he stepped 
in and uncovered his head, enthusiastic cheers acknowledged the hearty 
welcome with which the people of Lowell greeted him. An immense 
crowd surrounded the depot in all directions, blocking up the streets 
and passage-ways, and rendering the utmost exertions of the police 
and military force necessary to preserve the lines. 

The procession commenced moving under the direction of Colonel 
Watson, chief marshal. First, came a grand cavalcade of citizens. 
Next, the military, consisting of the National Blues, the Wameset 
Light Guard, the Mechanic Phalanx; — these last composed the guard 
of honor to Kossuth’s carriage, which was drawn by four beauti¬ 
ful white horses, each bearing the flags of the United States and 
Hungary. In this carriage rode Kossuth, his Honor the Mayor, 
Mr. Hopkins, and John Nesmith, Esq. Other carriages contained 
Kossuth’s suite, the committee of arrangements and their guests. 
The entire route of the procession was lined with spectators, who 
heartily cheered the distinguished visiter as he proceeded. Ladies 
filled the windows on all sides, and made up a large proportion of the 
crowds in the streets. Many of the stores and houses were very 
handsomely decorated. The day was quite warm, and was one of the 
most beautiful of the season. 

At twenty minutes past three the procession halted at the Merrimack 
House, having travelled the route previously announced in the official 
programme. Kossuth then dined with the committee of arrange- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


149 


ments; after which, in company with Erastus Hopkins and lady, 
of Northampton, Mayor Huntington, Wm. Livingston, J. G. Abbott, 
Colonels Watson and Butler, he visited the new canal, the Merrimack 
mills, and one of the corporation boarding-houses, expressing himself 
highly delighted at what he saw. 

On returning to the Merrimack House, Kossuth was waited upon 
by a number of persons, among whom was Eliza C. Poore, president 
of the Ladies Hungarian Association, who, in behalf of the associa¬ 
tion, presented him with sixty dollars and a neat address. William 
Livingston, Esq., also presented to Kossuth one hundred dollars, say¬ 
ing, “ Accept this for the Hungarian cause.” 

In the evening a meeting was held in St. Paul’s Church. At an 
early hour a strong current began to set in that direction; and before 
eight o’clock arrived, at which time the public ceremonies were to com¬ 
mence, the house was completely full, although a dollar was demanded 
for admission. At eight o’clock, the deafening cheers from the im¬ 
mense crowd outside, amidst which, at intervals, could be heard a band 
of music, announced the approach of Kossuth. As he entered, the 
vast congregation arose and saluted him with the most hearty and pro¬ 
longed cheers. Some of the ladies—a very large number of whom 
w T ere present — seemed to be entirely carried away with the prevailing 
enthusiasm. White handkerchiefs waved and fluttered in the hands 
of the fair owners in every part of the house. Kossuth acknowledged 
the honor by low and graceful bows. When the applause had sub¬ 
sided, the “Marseilles Hymn” was sung by the High-street choir, 
and the band played Washington’s March and Hail Columbia. 

Hon. Elisha Huntington, mayor of the city, then arose and addressed 
Kossuth in the following words, frequently interrupted by applause : 

“ Governor Kossuth : I am conscious I can do but imperfect 
justice to the feelings of this people, in the 'welcome I extend in their 
behalf to the rightful Governor of Hungary. 

“ Other cities may have received you with more pomp and louder 
acclamations; none with feelings of more sincere regard, more pro¬ 
found admiration. 

“ Since your landing upon our shores, you have visited spots hal¬ 
lowed by great, glorious and tender associations. You have looked 
upon proud old Bunker Hill; you have surveyed our battle-fields ; 
you have wept at the tomb of Washington. Our infant city can boast 
of none of these attractions. Industry, enterprise and wealth, within 
13 * 


150 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


a brief term of years, have caused a city to rise on this spot as if by 
enchantment; and the success of our industrial pursuits will but illus¬ 
trate to you the blessings of prudence, good government, and whole¬ 
some laws. 

“But, though our pursuits are peaceful and industrious, our hearts 
can go forth for the oppressed and down-trodden everywhere. Many 
a lowly heart among us beats high at the name of Kossuth; and 
Hungary and her heroes are as familiar to our children as household 
words. 

“You, sir, occupy a position before the world vouchsafed to no 
other living man; and to you, most emphatically, the eyes and hearts 
of all freemen are directed. You, under Providence, have been 
mainly instrumental in planting the seed of the tree of liberty on the 
plains of your native Hungary. That tree, we believe, has already 
taken root, and its roots have been watered with the blood of Hun¬ 
gary’s noblest sons. You, we trust, will still live to see its gigantic 
branches overshadow all continental Europe,—to see it bud and blossom 
and bear fruit, the fair tree of liberty, whose leaves are for the healing 
of the nations. 

“ But, sir, I will not detain you from this anxious, expectant 
audience. Once more allow me to renew to you a cordial welcome to 
our city; and believe me, sir, this is no heartless, unmeaning ceremony, 
— it is the spontaneous outpouring of warm, sincere, and sympathizing 
hearts. We pray for your life, your health, and for a triumphant 
and glorious future. We have an unwavering faith in the all-control¬ 
ling providence of a righteous God over the affairs of men. He will 
raise your prostrate, bleeding Hungary, from the dust, and place it 
high among the free nations of the earth; and this, we believe, he 
will do through you, his chosen, honored instrument.” 

At the conclusion of the mayor’s address, and when Kossuth rose 
to reply, three more cheers were given, and presently the silence of 
death reigned throughout the entire house, every one listening to catch 
the first sound which should issue from his lips. 

kossuth’s speech in lowell. 

“ Sir : I am penetrated with sincere gratitude for all the kindness, 
welcome and sympathy, you have tendered me, and to which this 
distinguished assembly has answered with their spontaneous cheers. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


151 


Excuse me for daring to object to a single word in all that you have 
said; and that is, that this assembly, before which I have the honor to 
bow, has some expectation to hear from me something worthy of atten¬ 
tion. I must begin by claiming their indulgence. Just as I feel sor¬ 
rowful that whatever personal kindness should draw attention from my 
cause, so must I feel anxious not to do or say anything that may injure 
that cause to which I have devoted my life. It is not out of false mod¬ 
esty, but truth makes me say it, that the more opportunity I have to 
address the people, the lower I must fall in their estimation. It is not 
possible else. I have no claim to be a great orator. Cicero was a 
great orator; and in all his life he made, perhaps, thirty or forty 
speeches. Demosthenes has a name renowned, that will be immortal; 
and in his whole life, he made, I don’t think more than twenty 
speeches. But, since I am in the United States, I have made five 
hundred speeches; and it is scarcely possible that four hundred and 
ninety-nine of them are worthy of attention. 

“ It is not easy to speak in a foreign tongue. I have some little 
written, but had not time to finish, and I must trust to inspiration. 
When I came here, I heard a hymn to God; and I am in the sanctuary 
consecrated to religion, and I plead for liberty. Perhaps out of these 
circumstances I may derive some little inspiration. 

“ Ladies and gentlemen, when the laborer gathers in the crops with 
which the mercy of God ha3 rewarded his toils, and, to wipe off the 
sweat of his brow, he sits down with the heart-gladdening feeling of 
having done the task, and escaped all the whims of time, and, in the 
sweet moment of security, a flash of lightning strikes his stack and 
burns it down, a woe of sadness thrills through his heart, and he looks 
up to heaven with tearful eye. But one glance to the mother earth 
cures him from despair. A winter hard to get through knocks at his 
door; but the winter, however hard, will pass, and the spring will 
come, and his more fortunate neighbors will aid him in his toils, and 
his fields will again teem with nature’s gifts, and a harvest doubly rich 
will compensate the deluded hopes of the past year. 

“ Truth, the truth of freedom, is like the mother earth. Violence 
may crush it, but its future it cannot destroy. 

‘ The eternal years of God are hers.’ 

“ I and my nation, we are like that laborer. Bravely was fought 
the battle of justice and liberty, and victory has crowned its toils, and 
the blood of martyrs has with devoted profusion flown, like the sweat 


152 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of the laborer’s brow, but it has not flown in defeat; the ray of victory 
has gilded the last smile upon the lips of self-immolating patriots; rich 
was the harvest of the field watered with the blood of the best; it was 
the independence of a country loved by millions more than life, it 
was the liberty of a people worthy to be free. 

“And, as we sat down to wipe off the sweat of toil, and the halle¬ 
lujah of thanksgivings rose from the lips of delighted millions, not the 
lightning of heaven, but a flame of hell, unholy like crime, and cursed 
as tyranny, consumed the beautiful stack ! 

“A mournful despair thrilled through the nation’s heart; and all 
the woes of that mourning concentrated upon this poor heart; the tears 
rushed to the people’s eye, and all the flame of those tears burnt in my 
eyes ; but I looked up to God, and the eternal destiny of truth came 
over my mind, and my people looked to me; and we bear the harsh¬ 
ness of the winter with unfaltering patience, and look to the spring 
with unabated hope. [Applause.] God will move good neighbors in 
our aid; and, thus hoping, we are ready to till the field once more in 
the sweat of our brow ; ready to water it once more with our heart’s 
blood, and trust to God that a new harvest will come, richer than that 
which we lost; and the day will come, when, sitting in the lap of a 
blessed future, we shall look with the smile of serenity into the mirror 
of past sufferings. [Applause.] 

“I felt never more intensely that trust in the sure coming of lib¬ 
erty’s new spring, than when I stood upon the battle-field where the 
first battle of America’s liberty was fought, to which you have alluded, 
sir. It was a defeat, and turned out into a most glorious victory. 
[Applause.] Had it been victorious, perhaps a negotiation w r ould 
have been its result, and Massachusetts would be a colony yet, as 
Canada is. Being such as it was, on one side it satisfied the country’s 
noble pride, revealed the vital power of the patriots to themselves, and 
gave them the consciousness of their strength. On the other side, it 
roused the indignation of all the land, and, by rendering compromise 
impossible, made freedom and independence sure. 

“ It is therefore that I like to linger on those fields where the 
future destiny of republican America was baptized by the blood of 
your first martyrs. They are like a mirror of revealed mysteries to 
me, where the foreboding shadows of future events rise like a vision 
of magnetic dreams. I approach them with awe, and leave them with 
inspiration and with hope. [Applause.] 

“ But, if the view of Bunker Hill be inspiring, gladdening is the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


153 


view of Lowell. [Applause.] At Bunker Hill the magic rod was 
found with which the great enchantress 1 Liberty 5 made Lowell rise 
out of the very earth, like the palace of fairies, — an overnight work 
of mystic spirits. [Applause.] 

“ Industry is a great word. It is science made subservient to the 
practical welfare of humanity. [Applause.] Agriculture is the nurs¬ 
ery of nature’s restless life. Multiplication is its task ; commerce is 
the great vehicle of products. Communication is its task; it is man¬ 
kind’s storehouse; it dresses the dinner-table for humanity. Industry 
is a creating power. It makes new things ; it is the spark of heaven, 
represented in the touching tale of Prometheus; it is the word by 
which the Almighty thus spoke to man, ‘ Thou art of Divine origin ; 
I will give thee a share of my own spirit. Nature’s hidden elements 
are the chaos, the confused raw material, of a new creation. I give 
thee science, that thou may’st find out those elements, and analyze 
their hidden qualities ; and, that thou makest a new creation out of the 
chaotic material, give thee my fairest gift, “ Industry.” ’ [Applause.] 

i 1 To me, a place like Lowell is of a touching interest. It awakens 
recollections dear to my heart. It reminds me of what I did for my 
country’s industry; collecting the modest sparks of individual knowl¬ 
edge, by the mighty lever of ‘association,’ into a blazing torch, spread¬ 
ing light, and courage, and energy, throughout the land ; I see myself 
carried on the wings of memory back to those days when, seated amidst 
the mechanics of my country, I spoke to them of Arkwright, of 
Blanchard, of Whitney, and James Watt, and of the wonderful results 
falling upon mankind, like the morning dew, from the ever-flowing 
well of their genius; and I see how their eyes sparkled, and how the 
hidden flames of their soul burst forth, and how the gloom of their 
work-shops passed away before the lustre of self-conscious dignity; I 
see myself seated amidst the boys, gathering in my association’s even¬ 
ing schools, when the task of the day was done, solving with glaring 
eyes and open lips the spirit of science and of art, superintended by 
their grave masters, wondering to hear what their boys are taught; I 
feel delighted to recollect the pressing crowds of men and women, of 
girls and boys, gathering into our halls to see the disclosed wonders of 
industrial chemistry, the perfection of well-adapted tools, the manner 
of using them best, explained by the everlasting rules of mathematics, 
in their practical application to technics and mechanics. [Applause.] 
I see new inventions of the newly-roused genius pouring in, and 
myself presiding, the Areopagus of practical workmen, in judging 


154 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


them; I see the happy, cheerful life in the factories which I made 
rise, and the noise of the w r ater-wheel, and the puffing of the steam, 
where a month before the silence of idleness rested; and I see the 
exhibitions I arranged, the joy of my recollections and the pride of my 
memory; I remember yet the excitement with which I arranged the 
first, anxious to shelter its poverty beneath the lustre of future days; 
and I remember yet the joy I felt w T hen I had to w r atch the arrange¬ 
ments of the third exhibition, the rich treasurer of a new life, filling a 
long row of majestic halls, and the nation pilgriming in thousands 
from distant parts to see the people’s glory and the country’s pride 
[applause]; and the modest workmen looking first astonished at them¬ 
selves, if it be, indeed, they who wrought all those things ; then, look¬ 
ing with dignity around, conscious of their worth, and receiving 
proudly the medals of reward from my hands, more proud' of them 
than arrogant aristocrats of their dusty parchments. [Applause.] I 
remember my joy when, at the banquet-tables of industrial solemni¬ 
ties, I first saw the distinction of classes give way to human dignity, 
and the pretensions of old aristocracy to the conscious merit of rising 
democracy [applause], social equality planning the w T ay to political 
equality. [Applause.] 

“ All this, and a thousand recollections else, come to my mind. I 
see the stout workmen closing the work-shops, and flying to arms, and 
fighting like heroes, and dying with a smile for their father-land; and 
the older and weaker, working day and night to provide for the wants 
of those who fought [applause], and — but away with recollections! 
All this has past; 1 the beauty of Israel fell.’ The halls are empty, 
and the schools are shut; the fields lie waste, and the hearth of the 
work-shop is cold, and the flow T ers of the new creation are trampled 
down ! But the spirit is awake, — no violence can murder it! My 
voice raised in time will rouse it from its gloom, and the clarion of 
resurrection will resound from valley to valley, and from hill to hill; 
and after the battle is fought, the enchanting rod c Liberty ’ will once 
more call forth the hidden treasures of industry. [Applause.] 

“ Ladies and gentlemen, the history of your country’s struggles for 
independence, as well as the rapid development of your prosperity, has 
been a favorite study to me from my early youth. The ardent love 
of liberty, melted together with my very heart, stimulated my mind to 
look around for instruction, not so much at ruins, the mournful monu¬ 
ments of the fragility of human things, but rather at a living, free 
nation, capable by its very life to teach the great art of life. [Ap- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


155 


plause.] I like to contemplate how freedom is to be gained, and how 
to be used; what are its generating powers, and what is the influence 
of institutions upon national character. It is natural that your coun¬ 
try’s wonderful progress in power and prosperity attracted my atten¬ 
tion. Your country was not unknown to me, though my country had 
to fall, and I had to eat the bitter bread of exile, to see what I had but 
known by reading, ^.nd Lowell is too preeminent amongst the living 
wonders of America, that I had 4 not studied its very existence with 
high interest. [Applause.] 

“ Let me, therefore, tell you what it was which I felt particularly 
delighted in learning, from what I had read about Lowell. 

“ It was, that the character of the manufacturing industry of Lowell, 
in its influence upon the social condition of the operatives, appeared to 
me entirely different from what I have elsewhere seen; worthy of imi¬ 
tation, as it is full of instruction. Agriculture, manufacture and com¬ 
merce, must, of course, give profit to the capital employed therein, else 
capital would not take that direction; and it is necessary that it should 
take that direction, else neither agriculture nor manufacture nor com¬ 
merce could flourish, or even exist. If labor is the one great lever of 
prosperity, capital is the other. Out of the reciprocal combination of 
both results the welfare of a nation. They must, therefore, by the 
practical philosopher, be considered in their mutual combination. 
[Applause.] 

“ And still, in many countries, that false intuition prevailed, at the 
first establishment of manufacturing industry, that it is only capital 
the security and profit of which laws and institutions must protect. 
Hence, we have seen, in countries standing high in industrial skill, 
an extended manufacture connected with the most miserable condition 
of the operative masses,— princely fortunes of the few, hand in hand 
with the distress of millions. Capital, being elected to the unlimited 
mastership over labor, has lost all civic virtue in its activity. And, as 
it is a natural necessity that action creates reaction, excess of action 
leads to excess of reaction; and in some countries the neglected inter¬ 
ests of labor revolted, with passionate hostility, against capital. Hence 
the fatal movement known by the name of Socialism, threatening with 
unnatural convulsion the social order of the respective countries. It 
is a mistake that that unfortunate movement can be crushed either by 
declamations or by violence. It is but a symptom of a deep, latent 
disease. Physicians know that a disease is not cured by beating down 
the symptoms ; the cause of evil must be removed. [Applause.] 


156 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“ Capital must have its profit; but the benefit of a nation’s industry 
cannot be considered as to how it shall profit the few, but how it shall 
act for the many. The greatest possible good to the greatest possible 
number, as an end to society, is laid down as a principle by Bentharm 
Indeed, power and despotism may contradict it; but, if society does not 
exist for the benefit of the members composing the society, I don’t 
know on what principle it does exist. [Applause.] 

“ Large factories, as the great field for the enterprise of capital, are 
highly beneficial. When numerous, they afford much opportunity for 
the exercise of labor, and opportunity for more to live; but, when not 
so numerous, the hidden powers of nature are developed to help men 
work out a benefit to themselves. But, out of those considerations to 
which I have alluded, I see a large number of facts connected with the 
sorrowful view of a degraded condition of the masses. Here, whatever 
else may be said, so much I know, and that is delightful, that the 
character of labor is such, its influence tends to quite different results 
from those in some other countries. [Applause.] You wisely avoid 
their faults, and escape their bad results, and put in activity, which 
makes industry most powerful and your country most happy. 

“1 am informed of three things in reference to Lowell: 
u 1. That while in some countries the laborer has no other prospect 
but only to go on from day to day in hard toil, with no hope of an 
independent position, here it is the particular character of industry 
that, to a large number of operatives who labor in the factory, it is but 
an apprenticeship to an independent existence. 

“ 2. While in some other countries the crowded cities are places of 
moral degradation, Lowell is a temple of intelligence, and a sanctuary 
of morality. [Applause.] If that is the fact, praise to the man who 
made intelligence arid morality the corner-stones upon which the 
industry of Lowell rests, and praise to the people who value this sys¬ 
tem as a beloved inheritance, which they are proud to transmit unsul¬ 
lied from generation to generation. 

“The third peculiarity of which I heard about Lowell is, that the 
greatest part of those employed here are of the fair,—and I say it not 
to flatter, I flatter nobody, not even the ladies, but out of conviction I 
say it,—the greatest part are of the better sex. [Applause.] If that 
be true that this labor here is but an apprenticeship to future position, 
developing intelligence among the young ladies working in the facto¬ 
ries, what immense treasure of family virtues and home happiness are 
spreading from Lowell over all the world! Self-acquired independence. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


157 


the means of a substantial position, intelligence, morality, industry, — 
these form the dowries which the ladies of Lowell will carry with them 
to their future homes, beautifying the future homes of those they will 
bless with their hands and hearts [applause], and spreading the com¬ 
fort of intelligent cares over their household; all their virtues and all 
their noble qualities will go over from generation to generation, mould¬ 
ing the child's heart into that form which holds together a people’s 
character. [Applause.] 

u To-day, not out of books, but out of my own experience in Lowell, 
when I found all that has been told me true, I found a fourth quality 
amongst the other virtues,— that the people of Lowell also sympathize 
with the principle of liberty. That is another part of the dowry these 
ladies will take to their future homes, and another part of the moral 
inheritance they will transmit. [Applause.] If prosperous industry 
he the daughter of victorious liberty, it is well done not to forget the 
principle of liberty, when happily showing the fruits of it in pros¬ 
perity. It is but the benefit, if I may call it benefit, which the son 
gives the father and the daughter the mother, such industry gives to 
liberty and humanity. 

11 Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, there is solidarity in the destinies of 
mankind. That is the word which those whom the people of Massachu¬ 
setts have intrusted to represent them in their legislative halls greeted 
me with wffien I entered the flourishing metropolis of free and intelligent 
Massachusetts. It is a true word, and I am highly gratified to see 
the intelligence of Massachusetts convinced of it; that intelligence has 
not made the heart cold, but has a warmth from which springs a con¬ 
viction like that which made Massachusetts first in the Revolution to 
maintain the principle of liberty, which is never secure if isolated. 
Community is its security, as I have said on a former occasion. 

“ Sir, you have been pleased to welcome me as the rightful Governor 
of Hungary. [Applause.] I accept it, not to have a high title (it is 
a high title bestowed upon me by the confidence of my people), but 
because there is a principle in it, a principle that a nation has a right 
to dispose of its own concerns. 

“ When I accepted this office, the highest my people could bestow, 
I raised my hands in the house of God, and swore an oath to do all in 
my power to maintain the freedom and independence of my country 
[applause] ; and let what adversities may come, I will be faithful to 
that oath so long as my aim is not fulfilled, and my people is not in 
the condition to declare its own will! [Applause.] 

14 


158 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“ My people is my sovereign. God in heaven, my people on earth, 
I have no other master ! [Applause.] 

“ Whatever diplomacy may do, it would be sorrowful if there is not 
so much sentiment of liberty and justice on earth as to acknowledge a 
people’s rights because it is just now crushed by foreign violence. 
Neither truth nor justice depend from the triumph of despotism. 
[Applause.] 

“I am happy to know, even from what I have seen in New Eng¬ 
land, that the people of the United States will acknowledge the prin¬ 
ciple that no other power is lawful but from the people’s will; and so 
far as duty to home interest permits, the United States will not fail to 
take the position of a power on earth, by which they will contribute to 
that end, that the principle of liberty shall not be exclusive, but a 
common benefit to all humanity. [Applause.] 

“ My success may be greater or smaller; but so much I can say to 
the millions of oppressed in Europe, to whom I must take an answer, 
— that the people of the United States, true to their own interests, 
and considering the exigencies of time and circumstances, will not 
consent not to weigh their weight in the scale in which the future 
destinies of mankind are to be weighed. Farewell, ladies and gentle¬ 
men ! ” 

This speech was many times interrupted by the most hearty applause. 
It occupied nearly an hour in the delivery. Three cheers for Kossuth, 
and three more for Hungary, were given with a will, when the choir 
sung “My Native Land,” and the band struck up Yankee Doodle. 

The mayor then announced that, contrary to general expectation, 
Kossuth would be obliged to return to Boston that night. After his 
departure, the vast assemblage slowly and quietly dispersed; and thus 
ended, says the Lowell American, a day long to be remembered in the 
annals of Lowell. 

Kossuth returned to Boston by the ten o’clock train. 


KOSSUTH IN LYNN AND SALEM. 


A meeting of the citizens of Salem was called at Lyceum Hall, on 
Thursday, April 29, to take measures to invite Kossuth to visit that 
city, and to prepare for his reception. 

Notwithstanding the short notice, there was a very respectable 
assemblage of men of all parties. Judge Mack called the meeting to 
order, when Hon. Stephen C. Phillips was appointed chairman, and 
Stephen Osborne secretary. Upon taking the chair, Mr. Phillips made 
an eloquent speech for the space of a half-hour or more. William D. 
Northend, from a committee, then offered a series of resolutions, which 
he advocated with energy and ability. After an expression of sympa¬ 
thy for the Hungarian cause, &c., the series concludes as follows : 

u Resolved, That the citizens of Salem, a city distinguished in the 
annals of the Revolution as having offered the first armed resistance to 
the illegal and tyrannical demands of the British authorities; and hav¬ 
ing, at the North Bridge, on the 26th of February, 1775, set the first 
example of the spirit which exhibited itself a short time after in the 
battles of Lexington and Concord; bearing in mind the principles and 
events of that era, and desirous of honoring in Governor Kossuth 
the devotion and patriotism we reverence in our ancestors, hereby 
appoint a committee of twenty-four to make arrangements to have him 
invited to meet the citizens of Salem and vicinity in the largest public 
hall in the city, admission to be obtained by the purchase of a Hunga¬ 
rian bond, and the entire proceeds to be placed at his disposal.” 

A committee of arrangements, without distinction of party, was then 
nominated, and a committee of invitation to wait upon Kossuth. The 
latter committee discharged their duty on Friday, April 30, and had 
a very agreeable interview with the Magyar, at the* Revere House. 
Mr. Phillips, their chairman, delivered the invitation speech, which, 
says the Mail, was, in point of eloquence and cordiality, one of the 
very best that Kossuth has yet heard. It is to be regretted that it 
could not have been reported for the press. Kossuth replied in an 
impromptu and very feeling address of some fifteen minutes, with 
which the committee were greatly delighted. He accepted the invita¬ 
tion, and Thursday, May 6, was fixed upon as the day of his visit. 


160 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


At Lynn, also, on Saturday evening, May 1, a meeting was held for 
the purpose of inviting Kossuth to visit that city. Hon. George Hood, 
the mayor, was called to the chair. Hon. D. C. Baker, Edward S. 
Davis, Ebenezer Brown, and John C. Vennard, Esqs., were appointed 
vice-presidents; and William H. Barry, J. F. Kimball and Lewis 
Josselyn, Esqs., secretaries. After addresses by the mayor, Messrs. 
Chamberlain, Harris, and others, the following resolutions were unan¬ 
imously adopted, and a large committee appointed. 

“ Resolved , That we regard with admiration the exertions and sacri¬ 
fices made by Governor Louis Kossuth in the cause of his country; 
that we recognize in him an exponent of the great principle of civil 
liberty; that we hold it right that the friends of freedom throughout 
the world should combine their sympathies in the common cause of 
humanity : and that we cordially extend to him the hospitalities of our 
citizens. 

“ Resolved , That we sympathize with the people of Hungary, and 
with the oppressed of all nations; and look forward with anxiety and 
hope to the time when all people will enjoy that rational and enlight¬ 
ened liberty which is the right of all. 

“ Resolved , That we extend to Governor Kossuth a cordial invita¬ 
tion to visit our city, and address us on the subject of his mission ; 
and that a committee be appointed to communicate to him this invita¬ 
tion, and to make all suitable arrangements for his reception.” 

At about half-past twelve Kossuth and suite, in company with 
Messrs. Burlingame and Ward, of the State Committee, left the Bos¬ 
ton Eastern Railroad station, on their way to Lynn and Salem. They 
were accompanied by Messrs. E. S. Davis, B. F. Mudge, J. B. Alley, 
Thomas Raddinand Alonzo Lewis, the committee of invitation of Lynn, 
and Messrs. Baker, Porter, Pearson, Barry and Vennard, of the com¬ 
mittee of arrangements. At a few minutes before one o’clock, a dis¬ 
charge of cannon and the ringing of bells announced the arrival of the 
Magyar at the West Lynn station. 4 Here a large concourse of citizens 
had assembled, and a carriage drawn by six beautiful cream-colored 
horses was in waiting. Kossuth entered this carriage in company with 
his Honor the Mayor, and the members of the State Committee. Other 
carriages were filled with Kossuth’s suite, the committee of arrange¬ 
ments and members of the city government; and a procession was 
formed, which proceeded, under escort of the “Kossuth Guards,” Capt. 
Gale, to the Common. 

Arrived here, shouts of welcome from the assembled multitude 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


161 


greeted Kossuth, which he repeatedly and gracefully acknowledged. 
Upon the Common were marshalled the children of the public schools, 
with their teachers, in two long lines, four companies of firemen 
acting as a kind of body-guard. The procession came in at the 
western gate, and passed through these lines,— Kossuth bowing and 
smiling to the children, who waved tiny Hungarian flags, and cheered 
him as he passed. 

On reaching the eastern gate, the procession, consisting of the mili¬ 
tary and the firemen, with several appropriate banners, and a cavalcade 
of citizens, proceeded direct to Lyceum Hall, where five or six hundred 
bondholders were assembled to listen to the eloquent Hungarian. A 
short delay occurred, in order to give Kossuth a moment to rest him¬ 
self after leaving the carriage, as he was quite ill and exhausted from 
his late excessive and constant exertions; and when he entered the 
hall, which he did amid cheers that made the house tremble, he looked 
pale and feeble, and seemed hardly able to stand. After ascending 
the platform and acknowledging the greetings of the assembly, he sank 
back upon the sofa quite exhausted. 

At the back of the hall, fronting the platform, a motto was inscribed, 
— “Lynn honors Kossuth,” and underneath it gracefully drooped 
the American flag. After the cheers of the multitude had subsided, 
his Honor the Mayor rose and addressed the audience, stating that, 
owing to the illness of his Excellency the Governor of Hungary, he 
would not be able to address them, and that he should not inflict a 
speech upon him or them; then, turning to the illustrious guest, he 
said: 


MAYOR OF LYNN’S ADDRESS. 

“Governor Kossuth: In behalf of the City Council and of the 
people of Lynn, in accordance with their unanimous voice, I bid you a 
cordial and earnest welcome to our city. 

“ Sir, you have the hearts of this people, because they love liberty; 
and they recognize in you a true representative and an able exponent 
of their principles. They regard with admiration the patriotic exer¬ 
tions and heroic sacrifices you have made in the cause of your country, 
and the unsurpassed eloquence and power with which you have pleaded 
that just cause before the people of England and America. The count¬ 
less wrongs, and crushing oppressions, inflicted upon your noble nation, 
have met with the indignant condemnation of the American people. 
You have appealed to the government and to the people of the United 
14 * 


162 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


States ‘to maintain the laws of nations against foreign interference/ 
and the principles you have enunciated have received a fitting response 
from the friends of freedom. 

“ Sir, we approved of the action of our government, when you and 
your brave companions in exile were invited to our shores, and a 
national vessel sent to receive you. We rejoiced when we heard that 
you were safe from Austrian tyranny, under the protection of the flag 
of our Union. When you stepped on the deck of the Mississippi, and 
our gallant tars greeted you with cheers that made the sea tremble, 
their echoes were borne across the ocean, and met with an enthusiastic 
response in the hearts of millions of freemen. 

“ We think you were right in being confident that the people of the 
United States would not feel in any way compromised , on learning 
that the citizens of Marseilles did, in a graceful manner, cheer the 
United States and yourself. 

“ The Legislature of Massachusetts has rightly expressed the will 
of the people, by inviting you, and receiving you as the guest of the 
commonwealth. 

“Accept, sir, our sympathy for your misfortunes, our heartfelt 
wishes for the success of your patriotic mission for the redemption of 
Hungary, and our prayers for your future welfare. 

“Fellow-citizens, I present to you Governor Kossuth, the friend of 
liberty and the rights of mankind.” 

As he closed, Kossuth, whose feeble state compelled him to remain 
sitting, rose slowly and stepped forward, bowing gracefully, as cheer 
after cheer, from a thousand voices, greeted him. He was dressed in 
a close-fitting velvet coat or sack, embroidered upon the front and 
sleeves, and trimmed with jet buttons. His countenance exhibited 
marks of great bodily weakness; but his eye flashed with an intensity 
which denoted that, though the body was weak and exhausted, the 
spirit still retained its energy and fire. The sympathy which greeted 
him seemed to have given him new life; and, much to the astonishment 
and satisfaction of the assembly, he spoke extemporaneously for three- 
quarters of an hour. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen: Out of my heart I humbly thank 
you, and thank also the corporate authorities of your city, for this wel¬ 
come, and for all the kind sympathy you have shown me to-day. You, 
sir, have been pleased to say that the people of Lynn have a love of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


163 


liberty in their hearts, and that is why they love my cause. That is 
an explanation of the wonderful things I have met with in the United 
States, almost unparalleled in history. When Lafayette came to Amer¬ 
ica, you received him with distinguished honors; but he was a man 
who had done some good to America; and it was a glorious thing for 
that man, who had seen liberty baptized in blood, coming back after 
many years, to see prosperity and power springing out of that very 
cause to which he had devoted his mind. As to myself, I have in no 
manner had an opportunity to do good to the United States, and, it 
may be, never can have; and yet, you honor me in such a manner, 
which I take to be an evidence that you are not indifferent to coming 
events, which must mark the era when the solidarity of nations will 
be established. [Applause.] 

“ Here, if I am not mistaken, in Lynn, it is the character of the 
people that they are agriculturists, mechanics, and fishermen. In 
every one of these I have hope for my cause, and I may trust to meet 
sympathy. Agriculturists, from a continued intercourse with the 
inexhaustible beauties of nature, must have generous hearts. As to 
mechanics, every character of industry connected with intelligence is 
favorable to the development of generous hopes for humanity. It is 
an ancient truth that, among mechanics of comparatively small busi¬ 
ness, who are their own masters and have an independent position, 
circumstances are not only favorable to the love of, but to aspirations 
for, the ‘ crime ’ of liberty. You know, when freedom was crushed 
nearly on the continent of Europe, it was only conserved in those 
cities where the population was composed of mechanics who had 
obtained a substantial position by industry. [Applause.] Eor this 
reason, I am not surprised that the Hungarian exile is here received 
as a brother. [Applause.] As to that part of the population called 
fishermen, I can say they must be bold sailors; and, as it is not pos¬ 
sible just now to bridge the Atlantic, at whatever part of Hungary I 
may one day land, bold sailors, at the first step, will be indeed neces¬ 
sary. 

“ Some people have taken the heart to be subordinate to the head. 
It is not true. Always the heart of a people takes whatever course is 
right. Individuals in affection may be mistaken, but the great heart 
of a people is never wrong. [Applause.] And so much as the instinct 
of a people’s heart is always right, I am glad to see, after calm con¬ 
sideration by the intellect, in which for months the people of Massa¬ 
chusetts have been engaged, still that heart beat on as it did years 


164 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


ago, when the liberties of your own country were threatened. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

“Gentlemen, look back into history, and you see that either one 
principle has ruled the world, or two principles have contended for 
sway. Now, in the future of mankind, it is only possible that the 
more the principle of liberty gains ground, the more will the impres¬ 
sion prevail that it is not one nation that should rule, but that it can 
be the glorious destiny of one nation to be first among the equal 
nations. In every case the United States can only be the first among 
the equal nations, or must rule the destinies of mankind. If it must 
go on, that one nation must preponderate, all humanity can but wish 
that to be the United States; because, founded on the principle of 
freedom to the benefit of all humanity [applause], and if the world 
has to be ruled by somebody, all the nations pray it may be by the 
United States. [Applause.] But rather, as I believe, on the other 
side, if it is not to claim to sway other nations, but to maintain its 
independent position on earth as a power, then it must be the wish of 
all humanity that it shall remain the first-born son of liberty. 

“ Now, on the other side, if the principle of absolutism takes sway 
of the destinies of humanity, Russia must rule; or, if not, must be 
first among the equal, not in liberty, but despotism. It is impossible 
that the people of the United States cannot see that these principles 
must come in contact sooner or later,— but, if not in contact, one, at 
least, must encroach upon the other; and remember, gentlemen, it is 
taught in history that those nations have met the greatest danger which 
have let antagonistic powers take advantage of circumstances ; — and 
every nation relying too much on its own strength has perished, while 
every nation wise enough not to abandon its destiny, but to take 
advantage of circumstances, and even make opportunities, has become 
a power on earth. I will be just even toward my enemies, and there¬ 
fore I will say, no nation understands the difficult art of using cir¬ 
cumstances better than Russia. It is indeed skilful,— but not for 
liberty, only to rule a world of serfs and slaves. 

“ Gentlemen, in public as often as in private life, it happens we see 
not dangers afar off; but yet, from a distant point, matters may affect 
materially the interest of nations at home. Indeed, it is my opinion 
that Hungary is the field where must be decided which principle should 
in future rule the destinies of mankind; and then that is a field worthy 
the highest sympathy and the closest attention of every man, and any 
power on earth loving liberty; and now, therefore, every man and 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


165 


every power on earth loving liberty cannot but be affected by the 
struggle now engaged on the field of Hungary,— yes, engaged. 

“You know we fought our battles bravely, but we were crushed; 
yet we are not made insensible to oppression, because we have now to 
endure it. The struggle is not over. There is now only a momentary 
stop in the battle. Both armies are recruiting, as it were ; the victo¬ 
rious to take advantage of that victory, and the defeated party — not 
defeated by want of bravery, but because not recognized — healing 
past wounds, and preparing again to resist this oppression at a new 
Ivapolna, which is the Bunker Hill of Hungary. [Applause.] 

“ Gentlemen and ladies, it has been my intention in these remarks 
to show that the heart of the people is right. I am very well satisfied 
with the result of my visit to the United States, in that respect that I 
know, whenever the standard of freedom is again raised in Europe,— 
and that time indeed draws nigh,— no power on earth will* make the 
people to look indifferently upon the struggle that will ensue. [Pro¬ 
longed applause.] I know the sentiment of the people of the United 
States. I have met them in the greatest portion of the country; and 
now in Massachusetts, where intelligence is spread to a greater degree 
than I have seen it anywhere in the world besides,— in Massachusetts, 
always first to feel the exigencies of the times, and possessing the 
energy to meet them [applause],—the Legislature has pronounced in 
favor of the law of nations, and the Governor has sustained that word; 
and you, sir, tell me that the Legislature and the Governor represent 
the will of the people. [Applause.] So it was, indeed, also, it is my 
duty to mention with gratitude, in another state, the young state of 
Ohio, with a population of two millions,— just, indeed, so old as I am, 
born in the very year,— it has taken the same ground, declaring it is 
not only the duty, but the interest, of the United States, to go for the 
principle of liberty as far as the league of despots dare go against it; 
and even from these circumstances I cannot doubt that, when the 
opportunity may come, the people of the United States will not look 
indifferently to the struggle between liberty and absolutism. 

“ But, gentlemen, a poor exile like me, who loves his country, may 
be a little egotistical, and may be excused for it; and, therefore, I may 
say I take the United States to be powerful enough not to wait an 
opportunity, but also to make an opportunity,— because, as I have said 
on another occasion, it is better to be the master of coming times, than 
let them rush on, increasing in danger as they rush. But I take 
human nature as it is, and do not ask the United States to take the 


166 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


position to make opportunity, as I could otherwise wish, to avert dan¬ 
ger from humanity, seeing the league of despots gain ground, and not 
desiring it should become predominant, but rather prevented from so 
becoming. 

“ However, we are not much inclined to believe that the lightning 
in the far-off cloud may come down and strike our house; therefore, 
I would not ask the United States to make opportunity. But I may 
say, whatever may be the difference of opinion as to policy, every man 
of sound judgment must say, that when such an unnatural state of 
things exists that the death of Louis Napoleon may make a revolu¬ 
tion, an opportunity must come,—which, indeed, I well know, from cir¬ 
cumstances I cannot disclose — which might be safe among friends, but 
might also reach other quarters,— if this opportunity must come, then 
I only claim here now the consideration that for ourselves it is our 
interest t<f prepare for that struggle which will follow. 

u If we are not prepared when the time of action comes, then in 
preparation we may consume time of which every moment teems with 
the destinies of mankind. For this preparation I appeal to private 
sympathy. Gentlemen, if tidings should come to-morrow that cir¬ 
cumstances called me to Europe to begin the struggle, it would be 
quite different if I have the means in hand, or if I had no money, no 
arms, no friends, but must prepare everything. Just as the merchant, 
who might be called from your city on important business. It would 
be quite different, if he had his horses and his carriage ready, or if he 
had to go into the country and buy his horses, before he could make 
the journey. [Applause.] 

“ I know there are two parties in the United States. One party 
has so much as adopted the principle that it is the interest of the 
United States to maintain the law of nations; but the other party, out 
of policy, opposes the ground that the United States should become a 
power on earth. It appears now to me of great interest, for those who 
are opposed to action by the United States, just to put the leaders of 
the coming struggle in a position where they may perhaps prevent the 
necessity that the United States should take a national part to maintain 
the law of nations. This may be considered another motive to do all, 
consistent with individual interest, privately, to prevent the United 
States from acting out of necessity. 

“ There may be differences of opinion as to policy, here and there; 
but if those millions who will struggle in Europe to throw off oppres¬ 
sion had so much aid as might here be given without sacrifice, the prin- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


167 


ciple of liberty would indeed be sure. One dollar only from every 
person,— twenty million dollars,— 0, my God ! what things could be 
done ! [Applause.] And, indeed, there is not in any village so many 
poor, that, out of twenty, one man could not bestow, by one day’s 
labor, a poor alms to liberty of one dollar. 

u The people of the United States are conservative enough. Their 
own Revolution was a conservative revolution, because they conserved 
their rights; therefore that is the word,— they are conservative enough 
not to go too far. Of that I am not afraid. 

“ Gentlemen, I am so sick I did not think it possible I could speak 
so long. You will excuse me if I have not answered your expecta¬ 
tions. I do not love money for myself; but if somebody would open a 
gold mine for me, I could take out from it gold on my shoulders for 
my country till the physical man gave way,— but when the body 
failed, I must sit down to rest. The gold mine of your sympathy is 
before me ; and I am told, to get the treasure, I must attend meetings 
and speak to you; but when the body is outworn, I must rest. 

11 1 have not been interesting; but men like you, who love liberty, 
need not be moved by eloquence to think right and act right. Therefore 
there is nothing necessary but for me to thank you again, and hope 
that, though you forget the poor exile, you will' conserve a small place 
in your hearts for his cause; and if Lynn does not hereafter honor 
Kossuth, Lynn will honor Hungary.” 

At the conclusion of this speech, the audience pressed to the plat¬ 
form to shake hands with Kossuth; but the state of his health would 
not permit him to be introduced to them, and he was immediately 
conducted from the hall to his carriage. 

The procession was re-formed, and proceeded down Market-street, 
up Union to Exchange-street, thence through Broad and Silsbee to 
Union-street, to the central station, where a special train was wait¬ 
ing to convey him to Salem. After shaking hands with the chief 
marshal and his aids, and a few others then in company with the 
mayor and the committee, Kossuth stepped into the car, and the train 
moved on amid the cheers of the people. 

On arriving at Salem, he was greeted with the shouts of a dense 
multitude, which lined his way from the railroad station to the City 
Hall. He was received at the depot by a committee, and was conveyed 
to the City Hall in an elegant barouche, drawn by a magnificent team 
of six black horses, followed by carriages containing his suite, several 


168 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


members of the State and Lynn committees, and others. In the 
Common Council chamber, which contained as many spectators (in¬ 
cluding a large circle of ladies) as could be admitted, the formal 
introduction to the city authorities took place. 

Hon. Charles Wentworth Upham, the mayor, welcomed him thus: 

MAYOR UPHAM’S ADDRESS. 

11 In the name of my associates in its municipal government, I bid 
you welcome to the city of Salem. 

11 The shortness of the time you are to be with us, and all the cir¬ 
cumstances of the occasion, require me to condense the sentiments 
your presence awakens, into the briefest possible expression. 

“ A world-wide commerce has made the people of this place, from 
the first, conversant with the idea of humanity in its broadest accept¬ 
ation, and our history’ connects us particularly with some of the 
most memorable incidents in the progress of modern liberty. For 
these reasons, you are sure of a special welcome here. 

“ I shall, in passing through some of our streets, point out to you 
the spot where the first delegates were elected to the Continental Con¬ 
gress, and where a Colonial House of Assembly, in 1774, under the 
guns of royal troops, and in defiance of a royal governor, transformed 
themselves, by vote, into an independent legislature, thus creating the 
civil government that carried Massachusetts through the war of Inde¬ 
pendence, and has continued, without interruption, from that day to 
this. We shall cross our North Bridge, where the first open resist¬ 
ance was effectually made to the power of Great Britain, in arms, 
more than six weeks before the battle of Lexington. I hope to have 
time to carry you into the confines of a neighboring town, that you 
may behold the monument erected by grateful affection and patriotic 
pride over the remains of the gallant young men of Danvers, who, 
rushing to the field from the most distant point, and falling in the 
thickest of the fight, contributed the blood of Essex among the largest 
proportions to the first great sacrifice, on the 19th of April, 1775. 

“ You meet everywhere diversity of opinion in reference to the 
policy which liberal governments ought to adopt. That, sir, is a 
question of time, and cannot be a question in any other sense. A great 
conflict must come, sooner or later. This truth was discerned a quar¬ 
ter of a century ago, by the cabinet at Washington, and proclaimed 
to the world by President Monroe. It was simultaneously discerned 
by the cabinet at London, and proclaimed by Mr. Canning, when, 

i 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


169 


having espoused the cause of the South American republics, he uttered 
the proud but most significant boast, that he had 1 called the New 
World into existence to redress the balance of the Old.’ At that time, 
this statesman, who, more than any other that ever stood at the British 
helm, comprehended the inevitable tendencies of society, predicted a 
fearful and final ‘ war of opinion,’ as he expressed it, throughout the 
civilized world; and he further declared that in the war the United 
States of America and Great Britain would be on the same side ,— 1 the 
daughter and the mother,’ to use his own words, ‘standing together 
against the world.’ A common language, a common commercial enter¬ 
prise, and a common enjoyment of self-regulated liberty, must compel 
these two nations to fall into the same line, in the impending world- 
crisis ; and you, sir, more than any other man, have had such evidence 
of the spirit of their people as to make it sure that, in the great day 
of trial, they will suffer no other banner to wave over them, on either 
side of the Atlantic, than the banner of the free. 

“ The result of the conflict is as certain as its occurrence is inevi¬ 
table. And, when the smoke of the battle clears away, the light of an 
unclouded sky will everywhere be reflected from independent nations. 
In that day,— God grant, indeed, that it may be even sooner! — your 
own dear and glorious father-land will stand forth in her radiant beauty, 
and be hailed again as the rampart of Christendom, — her martyrs 
avenged, her exiles restored, and her freedom established forever. 

“ Sir, your devout and reverential recognition of the great ideas of 
religion, on all occasions, adds to the other powers of eloquence its 
highest and most potent charm. The elemental laws controlling the 
destinies of nations, and working out the advancement of the race, you 
acknowledge and adore as the hand of Providence. The temporary 
interests of states, the policies of cabinets, the power of thrones or of 
parties, cannot withstand the operations of that Hand. In your toils 
and sorrows, faith in the overruling Power that has the welfare of 
humanity in its sure keeping will be your steadfast reliance. 

“We had hoped to receive you, as we rejoice to receive all the 
victims of oppression, to an American home; but, in the conviction you 
entertain that the great crisis is near at hand, you hear the voice of 
duty summoning you back to the Old World. May the blessing of 
Heaven, in answer to the prayers of freemen, attend you! ” 

15 


170 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


KOSSUTH’S REPLY. 

“ I thank you, sir, and through you the authorities of the city of 
Salem. I thank you for that sympathy you have expressed with the 
* principle of liberty. You have been pleased to speak of eloquence in 
respect to me. If there be anything in my stammering words to 
attract attention, it is not because of my eloquence, but because of the 
truth of the principle of liberty which I claim. For this principle the 
heart of the people of America feels warmly. So far it goes as even 
to show me personal kindness and affection. I was aware of that cir¬ 
cumstance before I came, that Canning’s proud words proved true; — 
but he was a little arrogant to say he had called a new world into 
existence. It was God who did it; but not only to redress the balance 
of power, but the wrongs of humanity,— for I have yet to learn that 
the people of the United States will not go as far to maintain the law 
of nations as the finger of God may point out. It may be that Hun¬ 
gary will act the part of danger in the coming struggle; but she 
seeks not to be glorious, for patriotism is only a duty. So much I 
know of the United States,— the world will see her banner waving yet, 
with that of Great Britain, to protect the rights of humanity. What 
are all the petty differences of parties, in comparison with such prin¬ 
ciples as affect the destinies of mankind ? 

££ I am happy to meet here, in the United States, a harmony with 
public authorities and the people’s will; and I am indeed happy to 
meet here that harmony in the Council-chamber of Salem in respect 
to the cause of all humanity. I thank the gentlemen of the Council 
for what they have added to the warm sentiment of the people.” 

While the mayor was addressing him, Kossuth manifested the 
deepest emotion, and very frequently took him by the hand, pressing 
it with kindly acknowledgment. His reply was much more full and 
expressive than the sketch as reported. After he had concluded, he 
was introduced personally to many of those present; among others, 
to the venerable John Punchard, now in his ninety-first year, the 
oldest male inhabitant of Salem, and a Revolutionary soldier. It was 
affecting to witness the tender earnestness and evident mutual satisfac¬ 
tion which characterized the interview between the exiled patriot and 
the venerable judge. 

After the ceremonies at the City Hall, the party were re-conducted 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


171 


to the carriages, and proceeded through several of the streets. Every¬ 
where Kossuth was greeted with the most enthusiastic cheers. When 
he passed through Washington-square, around the northern mall of 
which were arrayed about two thousand of the pupils of the public 
schools, the entire common appeared to be covered with the people, 
presenting a most lively and delightful spectacle. 

The procession of carriages advanced, at a moderate pace, towards 
Danvers, where, around the monument to the Lexington martyrs, 
which was gayly decorated, the people had assembled, with the school- 
children, to welcome the Hungarian. Here Kossuth alighted, for a 
few moments, and stepped upon a platform erected for the purpose, 
where he was addressed by John W. Proctor, Esq. 

MR. PROCTOR’S ADDRESS AT DANVERS. 

“ Governor Kossuth : The citizens of Danvers, sympathizing 
with oppressed humanity wherever it may be found, have heard of the 
wrongs done to the land of your birth with the liveliest emotions. 
The earliest recollections of their infancy have been aroused by the 
narrative of the sufferings of your countrymen. They have heard of 
the noble deeds and sacrifices of yourself and your associates, in de¬ 
fence of liberty. They know that the motto adopted by our fathers, in 
their struggle for independence, 1 Liberty or Death,’ is your motto. 
They rejoice in the opportunity to greet you, as the representative of 
liberty in the Old World; and to bid you a hearty welcome to this 
asylum for the oppressed, in the New. 

“Though the strong arm of arbitrary power, and the treacherous 
wiles of the artful and unprincipled, may hitherto have thwarted your 
hopes, still, as sure as there is a God in heaven,— and that there is 
£ all nature proclaims aloud through all her works,’—justice will be 
done, and the oppressed shall go free. 

“ By the kind attention of our friends of Salem, we now enjoy the 
privilege of meeting you for a moment. We feel that we have no 
right to trespass upon that time which is theirs to command. We 
are most happy, sir* to meet you on this spot, sacred to the memory 
of those whose blood was poured out on the 19th of April, 1775, a 
first oblation to freedom in America. We need only remind you of 
the simple narrative of their adventure. 

“ On the morning of April 19th, 1775, at the first sound of alarm 
that ‘ the British troops had started for Concord,’ the troops of Salem 


172 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


and vicinity assembled, under Colonel Pickering, their commander, 
afterwards eminently known as the friend and confidant of Washing¬ 
ton. The militia and minute-men of Danvers, to the number of one 
hundred, with the consent of the colonel, under Captains Eppes and 
Foster, had started in advance. With such ardor did they move, 
that they travelled, on foot , sixteen miles in four hours , and met the 
enemy, on their return from Concord, at West Cambridge, near Lex¬ 
ington. Here a conflict ensued, in which seven of their number, all 
in the prime and vigor of manhood, were slain. To their memory was 
this monument erected, by voluntary contributions of the citizens, on 
the sixtieth anniversary of the battle; the corner-stone of which was 
laid by their commander, Gen. Gideon Foster, who lived to the ad¬ 
vanced age of ninety-six years, highly esteemed, for his valor and 
virtues, by all who knew him. Such, sir, was the part taken by the 
citizens of Danvers, at the beginning of our struggle for independence; 
and so did they continue to aid the cause of freedom, as opportunity 
offered, to the end. We would not boast of what our fathers did, 
because we know their noble spirits would disdain to be praised for 
doing their duty; but simply notice it, as an act of justice to their 
memory. Few, if any, towns in the country, engaged with more 
ardor and efficiency, in the contest for their liberties, than Danvers. 
Early oppressed, as they felt, by the special interposition of the tool of 
the crown, in the restriction of their rights to choose their own repre¬ 
sentatives, they were prompt to embrace the opportunity to vindicate 
them. 

“After seven years of toil and suffering, their efforts were crowned 
with success. Not so with the patriots of your father-land. The 
treachery of Austria, and the despotism of Russia, when combined, 
were found too powerful to be controlled by any human agency. A 
just God, in his own due time, will relieve the down-trodden and 
deliver the oppressed. 

“We rejoice, sir, that the executive of this nation, and the execu¬ 
tive of the good commonwealth of Massachusetts, have both fearlessly 
extended to you the right hand of fellowship , with a cordial grasp. 
A sympathy thus uttered will not fail to be echoed through every 
land where the spirit of freedom has an abode. 

“If, sir, there shall be left on your mind, by anything you have 
this day seen or heard, in the humble village of Danvers, a single 
impression that shall encourage your hopes and strengthen your arm 
in defence of freedom and suffering humanity, we shall look upon the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


173 


day we were privileged to take you by the hand, on our own soil, as 
one of the happiest we have known. We hid you God speed in the 
noble cause of universal freedom; and commend to your notice the 
appropriate inscription on this monument, to the memory of our fellow- 
citizens : ‘ Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.’ ” 

KOSSUTH’S REPLY. 

“ I feel highly delighted to stand on ground hallowed by the recol¬ 
lections of devoted patriotism, and sanctified to the memory of all 
humanity, by most pleasing remembrances; for never yet had martyr 
blood been spilled for freedom so fructuous as the blood spilled at Lex¬ 
ington. You are free, independent and powerful; and, if it is true 
that spirits of the better world are permitted to know something of the 
affairs of this world, how the spirit of those whose great deeds this 
monument commemorates must rejoice to see the spirit of liberty 
spreading, and even be glad to witness the sympathy you show for 
poor, down-trodden Hungary. I know the circumstance that it was 
a minister of this vicinity [Mr. Barnard],— I do not know how inti¬ 
mately, but I assume it as a fact that you were more or less connected 
with your neighbors,— I know, I say, the circumstance that it was a 
minister of this vicinity who prevented Salem from becoming the 
Lexington of the Revolution; and I know what the people did when 
Colonel Leslie would have come into their town over the North Bridge. 
Now suppose, gentlemen, when Colonel Leslie came to that bridge, 
and he was told he could not pass, somebody had stept out and said, 
‘ This will not do; we must not oppose; he must pass, or we shall have 
a war.’ [Applause.] They did oppose, and what was the conse¬ 
quence ? Colonel Leslie thought better of it, and marched his troops 
back again. 

“ Now, gentlemen, let the people of the United States look only to 
the Czar as the people of 1775 did to Colonel Leslie, and, indeed, I 
think there would not be much danger of war. I am quite sure he 
would do as Colonel Leslie did.” [Applause.] 

This little speech was received with rapturous cheers; but here, 
again, the report fails to give his remarks in all their expressiveness 
and beauty. Weary and worn as he was, his great abilities as an 
orator could be plainly discerned. 

Returning to the city, Kossuth proceeded to the Essex House, where 

15 * 


174 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


opportunity was allowed for rest and refreshment. After dinner, Mr. 
Pulszky and several of the strangers were conducted to the East India 
Museum, which they examined with great interest. 

The meeting at Mechanic Hall, in the evening, was a very large one. 
Hon. S. C. Phillips presided, and there was a long list of vice-presi¬ 
dents, &c. Lieut. Gov. Cushman, several of the Executive Council, 
members of the State Committee, and other distinguished strangers, 
were present, and music added its attractions. When Kossuth entered 
the hall, the entire audience arose and greeted him with a storm of 
cheers, the ladies enthusiastically joining in the welcome, and the hand 
adding its inspiring notes. We have rarely, if ever, witnessed such an 
outburst of welcoming plaudits. Frequently afterwards, during the 
evening, a similar tempest of applause broke forth, and at the close the 
cheering was enthusiastic and long-continued. 

The hall was neatly embellished with flags and mottoes for the occa¬ 
sion. An arch, covered with banners, was thrown across the stage, and 
on it was inscribed, “ Franklin and Kossuth.” At the opposite 
end of the hall was a scroll bearing the inscription, “ Washington 
and Lafayette.” Around the galleries was displayed, in large 
letters, the motto from a speech of Kossuth: “We rely on our 
God, the Justness of our Cause, Iron Wills, Honest Hearts, 
and Good Swords.” 

ADDRESS OF HON. STEPHEN C. PHILLIPS. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen: This occasion must be regarded and 
remembered as one of peculiar interest. To many, and probably to 
most of you, it affords an opportunity for the first, and also for the last 
time, of beholding the countenance and of listening to the voice of the 
patriot and orator whom you have earnestly desired to see and to hear, 
and are now permitted. It likewise affords an opportunity of express¬ 
ing your sympathy for the country which such a patriot has served, 
and for the cause of which he is the advocate; that country, than 
which there is none more deserving to be free, and that cause, eternal 
as truth, and universal as humanity, which concerns alike all nations 
that have achieved or are struggling for their freedom. 

“In favoring us with this visit to our ancient city,— comparatively 
ancient in our young republic,—Governor Kossuth finds himself where 
we may be justly proud to meet him, on hallowed ground. As he 
treads the soil of the second landing-place of the Pilgrims, it is not 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


175 


necessary to inform him that its original population was the 1 choice 
grain’ which 1 God sifted a whole nation that he might bring into this 
wilderness.’ It is not necessary to rehearse before him the services 
and sacrifices of that goodly company of saints and martyrs, which, 
with Governor Winthrop at their head, brought hither in the Arbella 
the first sufficient charter of a local government in America. Their 
works have followed them ; the results of their policy, civil and eccle¬ 
siastical, are still visibly inscribed upon the character of Massachu¬ 
setts ; and the distinction which they conferred upon Salem may be 
learned from the fact that it contains the sites upon which they reared 
the first church in America, and the first free school in the world. 
Our distinguished visiter, in his hasty tour through a portion of the 
city and its environs, has witnessed one memorial, and has passed one 
spot, w T hich attests that here, as elsewhere in Massachusetts, the people 
were prepared, and amongst the first that were prepared, for the out¬ 
break of the American Revolution. In crossing the North Bridge, he 
has seen where, in advance of the battle of Lexington, the British 
troops met and yielded to an armed resistance; and the inscription 
upon the monument in Danvers has told him what a contribution was 
made from this quarter to the first sacrifice of life in battle for the 
country’s independence. As earned upon all its principal battle-fields 
amidst promiscuous successes and disasters, Salem was not without its 
share in the varied glory of the Revolution ; and it also bore a corre¬ 
sponding share of the burdens and privations which the service of the 
country then required. 

“ In peace, however, rather than in war, and chiefly by the prose¬ 
cution of a foreign commerce, 

* Divitis Indise * 

Usque ad ultimum sinum,’ 

has Salem acquired the reputation which properly belongs to her. Of 
the tendencies and distinguishing characteristics of the commercial 
interest, of its relations to other interests, of the reciprocal influence 
exerted by commerce and liberal institutions, of the commercial benefit 
to every nation already free, of an increase of the number of free 
nations, of the true commercial policy of promoting by all practicable 
means the diffusion of freedom, I deem it unnecessary in the presence 
of our guest to attempt to speak. In his first speech in Faneuil Hall, 
by a clear conception of the contrast as it should present itself, he has 
shown in effect what the mercantile class under a despotism is and 


176 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


must be, and what the merchants of a republic may and should become; 
and, in the appeal which he has made to intelligent merchants, not to 
mistake, not to abandon, not to seek to overthrow, but, on the contrary, 
to understand, to sustain and to help forward, his cause, he deserves to 
be met, as I trust that here and elsewhere amongst merchants he will 
be met, at least with candor, with a willingness to be convinced by 
unanswerable argument, and to receive the testimony of incontroverti¬ 
ble facts. 

“I now beg leave, sir, to introduce you to the company assembled 
upon this occasion. It is composed of citizens of Salem, and of the 
neighboring towns of Danvers, Beverly and Marblehead. It is com¬ 
posed, as you see, according to our Massachusetts custom, of ladies 
and gentlemen, parents and children ; of the young, the middle-aged 
and the elderly; of representatives of all classes and conditions in the 
community. 

“In introducing you to such an assembly, I present you to your 
friends; to friends of your cause, friends of your country, friends to 
whom you are well known, although a stranger, and by whom you will 
be remembered, if they should never see you again. 

“ I present you, sir, in that character which you do not shrink from 
assuming, as a martyr of freedom, and the indomitable champion of the 
rights of your betrayed, oppressed, down-trodden father-land. We are 
sure that it is not of yourself that you desire to speak ; that it is not 
for yourself that you invoke our sympathy; and we join you in regard¬ 
ing as beyond all personal interests the claims of a cause like that of 
your country. We recognize the similarity, in many important respects, 
of the condition of Hungary to that of the United States, when they 
struggled Jo be free. We notice, more particularly, some striking 
resemblances, in character and municipal institutions, between the 
people of Hungary and the people of Massachusetts. We trust, sir, 
that you see something in Massachusetts that reminds you of Hungary. 
We are sure, at least, that you cannot fail to discover that Massachu¬ 
setts hearts instinctively respond to Hungarian appeals. 

“ This is, of necessity, an occasion of mingled joy and sadness, since 
it requires us at once to bid you welcome and farewell. Welcome, as 
you come amongst us to enkindle in our hearts a renewed love of lib¬ 
erty, to extend and strengthen the tie of human brotherhood. Fare¬ 
well, as you go bound in the spirit to Europe, not knoiving the 
things which shall befall you there. That there are before you 
appalling responsibilities, which you must incur,— severer trials, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


177 


heavier cares, more formidable obstacles, than you have yet encoun¬ 
tered,—who can doubt? Your intellectual efforts and physical exer¬ 
tions can scarcely be more arduous than they are already here; and in 
this respect I almost apprehend that you may experience some relief 
in escaping from your friends in America, even to meet your enemies 
in Hungary. Still the path upon which you are to reenter must be, 
throughout its extent, a path of danger ; and how far at first, and how 
far till the last, you will be aided, according to your need of aid, in 
avoiding and resisting danger, it is impossible to foresee. 

“ But your stout heart and iron will have not forsaken you. The 
uncertainty of the prospect does not dishearten you. It may be in 
your power to command resources and to create opportunities as yet 
unexpected. You can bear to be disappointed. ‘ Again, ever again,’ 
you will be prepared to renew the struggle, and you will persevere 
unto the end. You can trust your countrymen. When you resume 
your station at their head, they will surround and follow you, and 
render you invincible. You can trust your friends in America for 
sympathy, and more than sympathy,—for ‘material aid,’ for remon¬ 
strance against your oppressors, for a cooperation, if it be practica¬ 
ble, with Great Britain, that shall make such remonstrance effectual, 
— and, it may be, if need be, for more direct and potential interposi¬ 
tion. 

“Above all, sir, as you have often reverently declared,— and that 
declaration completes our confidence in your character and cause,— 
your trust is in God. Our fathers trusted in Him , and he deliv¬ 
ered them ; they trusted in Him , and were not confounded. All 
our fathers were under the cloud , and all passed through the sea; 
and, with hearts trustful as your own, we will hope and pray that, 
under the same divine protection, your passage through the mighty 
deep of your future may be so guided and guarded, that, once at home 
in Hungary, the ‘happiness of Washington’ shall be yours !” 

Kossuth rose and delivered the following reply: 

KOSSUTH’S SPEECH AT SALEM. 

“ Sir : I am told that I am amongst friends. Friendship, in every 
condition of life, is a fair gift of God; but it is necessary to be an 
exile, homeless, a wanderer without a single place to rest upon, to feel 
the full consolation embraced in the word friend. 

“You have been so kind, sir, as to remark that you know it is not 


1T8 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of myself I desire to speak. Indeed, it is true I have no motives of 
a personal nature; and this is no merit of my own. Our Saviour 
taught us to love ourselves less than our neighbors, or to love our 
neighbors as ourselves. The personal interest I have in my labor is 
no quality against which the most rigid judge could object. The part 
which I act is a necessity of my nature; my whole life is a necessity 
of it. 

“ If I had any occasion to perceive a change in my nature,— and 
0 my God! among friends would it not be easy to say, give me an 
asylum where I may repose ? — would you deny the request ? 0, no ! 

and would it not be a fair place to rest my w T eary head ? 

“I am about to meet dangers for my country’s sake. After what 
you have said of your sympathy for my cause, it is almost unnecessary 
for me to speak; still, I have to do it, and I rely upon your kind 
indulgence while I speak. If I had time, I should have made prep¬ 
aration ; but for short speeches much time is required. Therefore, if 
I tire you to-night in my address, be pleased to speak, and I will 
stop. 

“ Ladies and Gentlemen: When, four years ago, the tidings of 
our gigantic struggle made the scarcely before known name of Hun¬ 
gary familiar to you, it was the instinct of sympathy for a nobly- 
defended noble cause which moved your hearts to rejoice at our victo¬ 
ries, to feel anxiety about our dangers, and to mourn our unmerited 
fall. And yet, so long as our struggle was but a domestic contest, a 
resistance against oppression by a perjurious king, you had no reason 
to think that the sympathy you felt for us, being a generous manifest¬ 
ation of the affections of free men, is in the same time an instinctive 
presentiment of a policy which you, in your national capacity, will 
ever be called upon by circumstances not only to consider, but, as I 
firmly believe, also to adopt. 

“You were far from anticipating that the issue of our struggle will 
become an opportunity for your country to take that position which 
Divine Providence has evidently assigned to you; I mean the position 
of not only a power restricted in its influence to the Western Hemi¬ 
sphere, but of a power on earth. You had not thought of that it is 
the struggle of Hungary which will call on you to fulfil the prophecy 
of Canning, who wisely has comprehended that it is the destiny of the 
New World to redress the balance of power in the Old. 

“The universal importance of our struggle has been but late 
revealed. It has been revealed by the interference of Russia, and by 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


179 


our fall, and by the already developed and still more threatening results 
of our fall. 

4 ‘Now, it has become evident to all thinking men that the balance 
of power cannot be redressed on earth, without Hungary is restored to 
national independence. Consequently that, if it be your own necessity 
to weigh in the scale of the powers on earth, if it be your destiny to 
redress the balance of power on earth, the cause of Hungary is the 
field where this destiny will have to be fulfilled. 

“And it is, indeed, your destiny. Russian diplomacy could never 
boast of a greater and more fatal victory than it had a right to boast, 
should it succeed to persuade the United States not to care about her— 
Russia—accomplishing her aim to become the ruling power in Europe, 
the ruling power in Asia, the ruling power of the Mediterranean Sea. 
That would be, indeed, a great triumph to Russian diplomacy,—greater 
than her triumph over Hungary; but a triumph dreadful to all human¬ 
ity, but to nobody more dreadful than to your own future. 

“All sophistry is in vain, gentlemen; there can be no mistake 
about it. Russian absolutism and Anglo-Saxon constitutionalism are 
not rival but antagonistical powers. They cannot long more subsist 
together. Antagonists cannot hold equal position; every additional 
strength of the one is a comparative weakening of the other. One 
or the other must yield. One or the other must perish, or become 
dependent on the other’s will. 

“You may, perhaps, believe that that triumph of diplomacy is 
impossible in America. But I am sorry to say that it has a dangerous 
ally in that propensity which in some quarters still may be met with, 
—in the propensity to believe that the field of American policy is lim¬ 
ited by geographic limits ; that there is a field for American and there 
is a field for European policy, and that these fields are distinct, and 
that it is your interest to keep them distinct. 

“ There was a time in our struggle when, if a man had come from 
America bringing us, in official capacity, the tidings of your brotherly 
greeting, of your approbation and your sympathy, he would have been 
regarded like a harbinger of heaven; and had cheered up, by his very 
presence, the gloom of loneliness, the sad impression of which did 
more to our fall than the sacrilegious arms of Russia. My nation, 
tired out by the hard task of dearly but gloriously bought victories, 
like the laborer after the hard toil of a sultry day, was longing for a 
little rest to restore his strength, when the numerous hordes of Russia 
fell in the hour of momentary exhaustion upon us. Indignation at 


180 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


this shameless violation of the laws of nations supplied the wanted 
rest, and we rose to meet the intruding foe; but it was natural that 
the nation looked around with anxiety, if there be no power on earth 
raising its protesting voice against that impious act of trampling down 
the law of nations, the common property of all humanity if there 
be no power on earth to cheer us by a word of approbation in our 
bearing up in legitimate defence against a world in arms. Alas ! no 
such word was heard. We stood forsaken and alone ! It was upon 
that ground of forsakenness that treason spread its poison into our 
ranks. They told my nation, ‘ Your case is hopeless. Kossuth has 
assured you that, if you drive out the Austrians from your territory, 
and declare your independence, your independence perhaps will be 
recognized by the French republic, probably by England, but certainly 
by America. And look! none has recognized you, not even the 
United States, though with them it was, from the time of Washington, 
always a constant principle to recognize every government. 

“ ‘ You are not recognized. You are forsaken by the whole w T orld! 
Kossuth has assured you that it is impossible the constitutional powers 
of the world should permit, without a word of protest, Russia to inter¬ 
fere with the domestic concerns of Hungary; and look ! — Russia has 
interfered, the laws of nations are broken, the political balance of 
power is upset. ’ Russia assumed the position of a despotic arbiter of 
the condition of the world; and still nobody raised a single word of 
protest in favor of Hungary’s just and holy cause. Such was the 
insinuation which Russian diplomacy, with its wonted subterraneous 
skill, instilled, drop by drop, into my brave people’s manly heart; and, 
alas! I could not say that the insinuation was false. The French 
republic, instead of protesting against the interference of Russia, fol¬ 
lowed its example, and interfered itself at Rome. Great Britain, 
instead of protesting, checked Turkey in her resolution to oppose that 
new aggrandizement of Russia; and the United States of America 
remained silent, instead of protesting against the violation of those 
laws of nature and of nature’s God, in the maintenance of which 
nobody can be more interested than the great republic of America ! 

“All this having been true, it was the sentiment of standing for¬ 
saken and alone by which the skill of our enemies succeeded to spread 
the despondency of hopelessness through our ranks. It was this de¬ 
spondency, and not the arms of Russia, which caused us to fall. Self- 
confidence lost is more than half a defeat. Had America sent a diplo¬ 
matic agent to Hungary, greeting us amongst the independent powers 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


181 


on earth, recognizing our independence, and declaring Russian inter¬ 
ference to be contrary to the laws of nations, that despondency, that 
loss of self-confidence, had never gained ground in our ranks. With¬ 
out this, treason would have been impossible ; and without treason, all 
the disposable power of Russia w r ould never have succeeded to over¬ 
come our arms,— never! I would have rather brought the well- 
deserved punishment home to her,—would have shaken her at home. 
Poland — heroic, unfortunate Poland ! — would now be free ; Turkey 
delivered from the nightmare now pressing her chest; and I, according 
to all probability, would have seen Moscow in triumph, instead of 
seeing Salem in exile ! 

“ Well, there is a just God in heaven, and there will be yet justice 
on earth. The day of retribution will yet come ! 

“ Such being the sad tale of my father-land,— which, by a timely 
token of your brotherly sympathy, might have been saved, and which 
now has lost everything, except its honor, its trust in God, its hope of 
resurrection, its confidence in my patriotic exertions, and its steady res¬ 
olution to strike once more the inexorable blow of retribution at 
tyrants and tyranny,— if the cause I plead were a particular cause, 
I would place it upon the ground of well-deserved sympathy, and 
would try to kindle into a flame of excitement the generous affections 
of your hearts ; and I would succeed. 

“ However, a great crisis in human affairs, universally felt to be 
approaching, having placed my humble self in the position of being 
entitled to claim for my cause a universality not restricted by the 
geographical limits of a country, or even of Europe itself, or by the 
moral limits of nationalities, but possessing an interest common to 
all the Christian world, it is calm, considerate conviction, and not the 
passing excitement of generous sentiments, which I seek. I hope, 
therefore, to meet the approbation of this intelligent assembly, when, 
instead of pleasing you by an attempt at eloquence,— for which, in my 
sick condition, I indeed have not sufficient freshness of mind,— I 
rather will enter into some dry but not unimportant considerations, 
which the citizens of Salem, claiming the glory of high commercial 
reputation, will kindly appreciate. 

“ Gentlemen, I often heard the remark that, if the United States 
do not care for the policy of the world, they will* continue to grow 
internally, and will soon become the mightiest realm on earth,— a 
republic of a hundred millions of energetic freemen, strong enough to 
defy all the rest of the world, and to control the destinies of mankind. 

16 


182 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


And surely this is your glorious lot; but only under the condition that, 
before you have, in peace and in tranquillity, grown so strong, no hos¬ 
tile combination arrests by craft and violence your giant’s course j and 
this, again, is only under the condition possible, that Europe become 
free, and the league of despots become not sufficiently powerful to 
^ check the peaceful development of your strength. But Russia, too, 
this embodiment of the principle of despotism, is working hard for the 
development of her power. Whilst you grow internally, her able diplo¬ 
macy has spread its nets all over the continent of Europe ; there is 
scarcely any prince more there who feels not honored to be an under¬ 
ling of the great Czar; the despots are all leagued against the freedom 
of the nations ; and, should the principle of absolutism succeed to con¬ 
solidate their power, and lastingly to keep down the nations, then they 
must, even by the instinct of self-preservation, try to check the fur¬ 
ther development of your republic. In vain they would have spilt the 
blood of millions, in vain they would have doomed themselves to eter¬ 
nal damnation, if they -would allow that the United States should 
become the ruling power on earth. They crushed poor Hungary, 
because her example was considered dangerous. How could they 
permit you to become so mighty as to be not only dangerous by your 
example, but by your power a certain ruin to despotism 7 They will, 
they must, do everything to check your glorious progress. Be sure, 
as soon as they have crushed the spirit of freedom in Europe, as soon 
as they command all the forces of the continent, they will marshal 
them against you. Of course, they will not lead their fleets and 
armies at once across the ocean; they will first ruin your prosperity 
, by ruining your commerce. They will exclude America from the 
markets of Europe, not only because they fear the republican propa- 
gandism of your commerce, but also because Russia requires those 
markets for her own products. 

u I remember in my own country, one thousand years ago, our 
ancestors came from Asia, a conquering people, seeking a new home. 
For one hundred and fifty years there was a policy of war. It was a 
necessity to them, that they might show their power and strength, to 
maintain that policy; and they became the terror of Europe, so far 
even as France. 

“ Now, our people know that war can never, for all future time, be 
regarded as a principle, but only as a policy. Principles are eternal; 
but whoever takes policy for a principle puts himself in a position of 
doing wilful wrong. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


183 


“ This reminds me of a circumstance that is interesting, as an evi¬ 
dence of the shrewdness of Russian diplomacy in securing new means 
for a market for their produce. 

“ The Ottoman empire, after Constantinople had been conquered, 
adopted the old policy of the Greek empire, in many respects. Its 
chief feature, in this policy, was a great care that the capital should 
always be provided with cheap bread. Tor this purpose, the exporta¬ 
tion of corn was most strictly forbidden. This was a false doctrine. 
Cheap bread is not the result of prohibitory laws; but such was the 
law of Turkey during four centuries. 

“In 1848, Russian diplomacy, which is always accustomed to take 
the chestnuts out of the fire with foreign hands, suggested a treaty 
contradicting the prohibitory system. A high tax on corn was sure to 
give Russia the exclusive sale, not only in Turkey, but also in Con¬ 
stantinople. The treaty was accomplished, and the Turkish govern¬ 
ment pledged itself not to forbid the exportation of corn, but to 
replace the prohibitory act by a duty of twelve per cent., which, by 
various considerations, was augmented to forty per cent. There being 
no railroads in that country, an immense sum must be paid for trans¬ 
portation. The high duty on exportation was not only laid on for 
foreign countries, but also for transportation between its own ports. 
This arrangement was not extended to Constantinople, but was replaced 
by the Octroi duty, which is much the same as a duty for entering 
goods into Salem from Lynn. 

“ Under this treaty, Constantinople receives from Russia corn to 
the value of five millions of piastres, and other stuffs three millions, in a 
single year. Still, Russia protests, before the world, against the 
treaty, pretending that it prevents Russian produce from competing 
fairly with the produce of other nations. The consequence of it is, 
Turkish corn is not only driven out of Europe, but even out of its own 
metropolis. 

“ I have heard some say that you cannot be excluded from the mar¬ 
kets of Europe, the benefits of your commerce being reciprocal. But, 
if you examine closer the commercial system of all the nations over 
which the Czar of Russia extends his direct or protective sway, you 
will soon perceive that the foundations of such an exclusive system are 
already laid down, and that it will be extended, with the consistency 
of despotism, further and further. Your republican wheat is excluded 
from all the markets of continental Europe; and, if a famine opens for 
a short time the seaports closed against you, the wheat of the Volga 


184 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


supersedes the wheat of the Mississippi; and for every thousand 
bushels exported by New York, Odessa exports a hundred thousand. 
In England only you retained a victorious competition against Russia. 
Your export of corn fruits there rose, under favorable circumstances, 
after the repeal of the corn-laws, to eighteen millions of bushels. 
Russia must try to wrest that immense market from you. You see 
already established there a protectionist ministry, opposed by party 
spirit, also, to the development of liberal institutions. You will see 
every anti-liberal step supported, in England, by all the secret skill 
of Russia, under the condition that your commerce shall again be 
checked by the reintroduction of the corn-laws, and their effect limited 
by a special treaty in favor of Russia. And, should the public opinion 
of the people of Great Britain make an illiberal government impossible, 
you will see England entangled into embarrassing difficulties. You 
will see her attacked; you will see the export of her manufactures 
excluded from the continent of Europe, and thus not only her pros¬ 
perity upset, but also your commerce checked. 

“ Duties of a hundred and more per cent, weigh heavily upon the 
republican tobacco, the tobacco trade being everywhere a monopoly of 
the governments; consequently the use of tobacco, by high price, very 
limited, in comparison to what it would be if the nations of Europe 
were free. 

“ The hemp of Russia excludes the hemp of Kentucky; and, though 
the official returns of your commerce show how small is your export 
of cotton to the continent of Europe, and, in comparison to the popula¬ 
tion, smaller in the same ratio in which the governments are more 
despotic, yet you will find the continental papers claiming protection 
for the linen industry of Europe. The starvation of the linen-weavers 
fills, year by year, and week by week, the columns of certain European 
papers. Let liberty in Europe be lastingly destroyed, and the flax of 
Riga will supersede the cotton of America, by a slight alteration of 
the tariff; and, so far as cotton, to a certain extent, would still be 
required, you will see American cotton excluded in favor of the Levant 
cotton. 

“ Perhaps there may be found some who believe that, if the manu¬ 
facturing industry of England should be checked, it would be, perhaps, 
good for this country. In my opinion, such a consideration is a fallacy. 
And why ? There are, for your home industry, only two things,— 
free trade or protection. In either case, it is of the highest importance 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


185 


to you that Old England should have markets in other parts of the 
world. 

“If the protective policy prevails, it is quite clear that England 
should have free markets in other parts of the world, that it may not 
be forced to resort to smuggle its products into your country. In such 
a country, with an immense sea-coast, it cannot be sufficiently guarded 
against a trade of this description. There is, therefore, a necessity 
that England should have free markets. 

“ On the other hand, if the principle of free trade prevails, one cir¬ 
cumstance is clear,— there may be some branches of foreign industry 
more favorable for your purposes than your own. In those branches 
foreign competition will be before you, so you can’t stand; but you 
will have markets in other parts of the world, by which you may defy 
competition. 

“In Lowell, yesterday, at the carpet-mills, I was highly interested. 
In asking information of profit and prices, I found that the hand- 
looms are working with a loss. And there is just this difference in the 
pow r er-loom,— it goes on successfully with small profits. Its products 
can find a ready sale in Hungary; in Turkey every peasant will want 
a carpet, and you will find for them immense markets in other parts 
of the world. But, if the Russian policy prevails, you will never find 
the markets. 

“It is for your interests, then, that Old England should have suf¬ 
ficient markets for her produce. The more markets she can compete 
in, the more cotton she will want, and that is a very important 
ingredient in your commerce; and when England can find markets, 
her commerce will never resort to smuggling. 

“You have scarcely any other customer in Europe than England; 
and, as I already remarked, the despots countenance, even there, a 
government which intends to tax your wheat; and they will rejoice to 
ruin English cotton industry and American cotton production at once. 
And they can do it, if they are allowed to carry their ambitious 
schemes of overcoming the resistance of the reluctant nations. It is a 
part of the scheme to muzzle the English lion,— you see already how 
they are preparing for this blow,— and Russia will become the master 
of Constantinople, and by Constantinople the master of the Mediter¬ 
ranean, and by the Mediterranean the master of three-quarters of the 
globe. Egypt, Macedonia, Asia Minor,— the country and early home 
of the cotton-plant,— are then the immediate provinces of Russia,— 
16 * 


186 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the realm with twenty million serfs,— subject to its policy, and depend¬ 
ing from its arbitrary will. 

“Here is a circumstance highly interesting to the United States. 
Constantinople is the key to Russia. To be a power on earth, she 
knows it is necessary for her to be a maritime power. The Black Sea 
is only a lake, like Lake Leman, and the Baltic is frozen five months 
in a year. These are all the seas she possesses. Constantinople is 
the key to the palace of the Czars. Russia is already omnipotent on 
the continent. Once master of the Mediterranean, it is not difficult to 
see that the power which already controls three-quarters of the world 
will soon have the fourth quarter. 

“Whilst the victory of the nations of Europe would open the 
markets till now yet closed to your products, the consolidation of 
despotism destroys your commerce unavoidably,— your wheat, your 
tobacco, your cotton. Excluded from Europe but for one year, and 
there is no farm, no plantation, no banking-house, which would not 
feel the terrible shock of such a convulsion. 

“And, hand-in-hand with the commercial restrictions, goes, then, 
the establishment of monarchies from Cape Horn to the Rio Grande 
del Norte; Cuba becomes a battery against the mouth of the Missis¬ 
sippi ; the Sandwich Islands a barrier to your commerce on the Pacific. 
Russian diplomacy will foster your domestic dissensions, and rouse the 
South against the North, and the North against the South; the sea- 
coast against the inland states, and the inland states against the sea- 
coast ; the Pacific interests against the Atlantic interests; and, when 
the discord paralyzes your forces, then comes, at last, the foreign inter¬ 
ference, preceded by the declaration that the European powers have 
with your silent consent inscribed into the code of international law 
the principle that every foreign power has the right to interfere in the 
domestic affairs of any nation when these become a dangerous example; 
and your example and your republican principles being dangers to the 
absolutistical powers, your domestic dissensions are dangerous to the 
order and tranquillity of Europe, and therefore they consider it their 
duty to interfere in America. And Europe being oppressed, you will 
—have, single-handed, to encounter the combined forces of the world! 
I say not more about this subject. America will remember, then, the 
poor exile, if it did not in time give credit to that course of policy 
which the intelligence of Massachusetts, together with the young 
instinct of Ohio, are the foremost to understand and to advance. 

“If despotic power prevails, republicanism must fail. Between 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


187 


heaven and hell there is no compromise. No transactions are possible 
between absolutism and republicanism. You will remember, in the 
early part of the present century, the embargo, and the consequent 
destruction of American commerce. 

“ But a man of your own state, a President of the United States,— 
John Quincy Adams,— with enlarged sagacity, which never mistook 
as to measures, accepted a different policy, when he consented to and 
accepted the Panama mission, to consider the consequence of the Holy 
Alliance upon the interests of the South American republics. 

“ Now, I beg you to reflect, gentlemen, in what condition South 
America is different from Europe as respects your own country. You 
must look at the thousand ties that bind you to Europe. In Wash¬ 
ington, a senator from California, a generous friend of mine, told me 
he was thirty days, by steamer, to the seat of government. Well, you 
speak of distance, —just give me a good steamer, and good sailors, and 
you will see raised, in twenty days, the flag of freedom in Hungary. 
[Applause.] 

“ I remember, that when one of your glorious stars (Florida, I think it 
was) was about to be introduced, the question of discussion and objec¬ 
tion became that the distance was great. It was argued that the 
limits of the government would be extended so far that its duties could 
not be properly attended too. The president answered that the dis¬ 
tance was not too great, if the seat of government could be reached in 
thirty days. So far you have extended your territory; and I am 
almost inclined to ask my poor Hungary to be accepted as a star in 
your glorious galaxy. [Prolonged cheering.] She might become a 
star in this immortal constellation, because she is not so far as thirty 
days off from you. [Applause.] 

“What little English I know, I learned from your Shakspeare; 
and I learned from him that 1 there are more things in heaven and 
earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy.’ Who knows what the 
future may bring forth? I trust in God that all nations will become 
free, and that they will be united for the eternal interests of humanity; 
and in that galaxy of freedom I know what place the United States 
will have. 

“ One word more. When John Quincy Adams raised the United 
States to be a power on earth, he was objected to, because it was 
thought possible that that step might give offence to the Holy Alliance. 
His answer was in these memorable words : £ The United States must 
take counsel of their rights and duties, and not from their fears.’ 


188 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“The Anglo-Saxon race represents constitutional governments. 
United for those, we will have what we want — fair play; and, relying 
1 upon our God, the justness of our cause, iron wills, honest hearts, 
and good swords,’ my people will strike once more for freedom, inde¬ 
pendence, and for father-land ! ” 

At the conclusion of Kossuth’s speech, Mr. Phillips introduced to 
the meeting the Hon. Anson Burlingame, ■who made the following 
remarks, which were heartily cheered: 

MR. BURLINGAME’S SPEECH. 

“ In reply to your call, I will only detain you to express the gratifi¬ 
cation I feel, as a member of the committee charged with the delight¬ 
ful duty of conducting our distinguished guest to the state, at the 
reception with which he has everywhere been greeted. Our first 
invitation found him beyond the Alleghanies with the free sons of the 
West,— he had then visited the chief cities along the Atlantic slope. 
Since then, he has made the wide circuit of the republic, everywhere 
pouring out his life into the great bosom of the people, filling it with 
the loftiest sentiments. [Applause.] He kindled the bold spirit of 
our western land into a flame of enthusiasm. [Applause.] He laid 
his hand tenderly upon the fiery heart of the South, and soothed it 
into sympathy. This he did before he turned his feet toward New 
England; and many of his friends, in this home of his friends, feared- 
— because of the long interval between his arrival in the country and 
his visit here — that the original interest awakened by the story of 
his her6ic life might have somewhat declined; but the shouts of the 
people with which he is greeted — rising, as they do here to-night, like 
the voice of many waters — tell us that the interest in himself and 
country has rather deepened than diminished. [Loud applause.] 

“ He does not feel the breeze from the distant prairies, or enjoy the 
fragrance of the magnolia’s blossoms; but here, on these cold hills, and 
by this stormy sea, he has found hearts as God made them, open to 
the reception of truth, and responsive to the voice of humanity. 
[Applause.] And why is it that this people —taught from the cradle 
to the grave to conserve its own dignity — gives itself with child-like 
confidence to the voice of this one man, and he a stranger 7 Is it blind 
adoration of that form, not yet quite wasted by the dungeon or broken 
by the toils of a struggling life,— for that which may be cold in an 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


189 


hour ? —• No ! no ! It is because eternal truth dwells on those lips; 
it is because those eyes beam with the effulgence of principles which 
shall flourish in immortal vigor when all men are in the dust. [Ap¬ 
plause.] But, gentlemen, I shall not give wing to speech, or do any¬ 
thing to break the delicious spell which no\V enthralls you. I leave 
you to the charms of the serene eloquence you have heard, feeling that 
its mournful melody will linger in your memories like the recollections 
of some grand old song, long after the voice which made it shall have 
died away.” [Applause.] 

Mr. Phillips next introduced M. Pulszky, who made a brief but very 
happy speech. He remarked, that he was nothing more than an 
humble star in the milky way, whose light faded and disappeared 
before the effulgent beams of the glorious sun. He said, significantly, 
in conclusion, that the audience had called him out, and he had obeyed 
their call. What they had now heard from him was of little import¬ 
ance ; but he was going across the water, and he was in hopes the^ 
would, not long hence, hear something about him. 

The meeting then adjourned, and Kossuth and attendants left Salem 
for Boston, in a special train, as soon as they could reach the depot 
from the hall. 


KOSSUTH’S VISIT TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Kossuth, accompanied by M. Pulszky, Mayor Seaver, Speaker 
Banks, Amasa Walker, Secretary of State, and others, visited several 
of the Public Schools of Boston, on Saturday, May 8. The first one 
visited was the Hancock School for girls. The girls, to the number 
of nearly seven hundred, were all assembled in the large hall of the 
building, nearly filling the entire room. Upon the black-board, on the 
right of the entrance, was inscribed the words, “ Welcome, Kossuth, 
to the Free Schools of a Free Land. Liberty has triumphed on Bun¬ 
ker’s Hill,— it will triumph around Buda’s Hill! ” On the board on 
the left were the words: “ Hancock School. Instituted 1822. Re¬ 
moved to this house, 1848.” These inscriptions were executed in a 
beautiful style by Misses Ellis and Andrews. 

The guests reached the school-house about half-past ten o’clock, and 
were received by the children standing. When the company were 



190 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


seated, the children resumed their seats, and, in an admirable man¬ 
ner, sang one of their beautiful songs,— “Hail, Bright Land of 
Liberty.” 

Mr. Norcross, chairman of the Hancock School Committee, then 
introduced George Allen, Esq., the Principal of the school, to Kos¬ 
suth. Mr. Allen welcomed Kossuth in the following manner : 

“ Governor Kossuth : In behalf of the Hancock School , and by 
authority of the illustrious name it bears, I have the honor to welcome 
you here as the champion of human rights, the vindicator of national 
independence, and therefore, of necessity, as well as choice, the friend 
of universal education. 

“ The seven hundred pupils who daily congregate here, to be educated 
in the elements of useful knowledge, are the hopeful daughters of 
wise-hearted mothers, who themselves teach their children to love and 
honor the assertors and defenders, in all countries, of the inalienable 
rights of mankind. 

“ It was the far-seeing spirit of liberty, strong and resolute in the 
bosoms of our fathers, which in our infant colony established free 
universal education, to secure and perpetuate those rights for the love 
of which they settled on these storm-beaten rocks, and by the power of 
which they struck from them so many streams of happy life. 

“ This free school, now honored by your presence, is but one of the 
many which give strength and beauty and renown to our city. It is 
but one of the thousands which are the glory and safeguard of the 
state; and, therefore, on this occasion, I claim the right and assume 
the honor of greeting your Excellency, and of bidding you a heart-full 
welcome to the Hancock School, as a type and representation of 
free universal education throughout this commonwealth. Nor 
do I assume too much in using this opportunity to assure your Excel¬ 
lency that, were the pupils of all the schools of Massachusetts congre¬ 
gated in one vast throng, their acclamation would break forth, as one 
voice, in behalf of the great mission for mankind which has brought 
you to this land, and which occupies so broadly the sympathies of this 
nation. I only utter their united, hearty wish, when I add, God 
speed your noble and generous enterprise to its glorious , beneficent 
consummation. 

“And now, sir, in introducing you to this school, permit me to 
assure you that the words you see before you, ‘Welcome, Kossuth, to 
the Eree Schools of a Free Land/ are a cordial greeting • and that we 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


191 


all unite in the wish, that your prediction, that ‘ Liberty will triumph 
around Buda’s Hill,’ may speedily be accomplished; and then the 
world will no longer say, ‘American Liberty,’ a 'privilege ,— but 
‘Liberty,’ a principle” 

Kossuth replied to this address in a few remarks, which were spoken 
in so low a tone as to indicate extreme illness. He looked quite feeble, 
and was evidently hardly able to stand. His reply was in substance 
this: 

“ I thank you, sir, for the kind sentiments you have expressed, and 
the pleasure you have afforded me in the opportunity to visit this, one 
of the great work-shops of the mind of Massachusetts. Education 
and intelligence must always be the chief support of freedom; and the 
education of ladies is greatly important, who have, in so large a degree, 
to form the infant and youthful mind of a nation. I regret that illness 
deprives me of the power to raise my voice so that my thanks can be 
heard by all the beautiful and interesting children who are here, and 
in whose name you have welcomed me.” 

Mr. Allen then introduced to Kossuth Miss Sarah F. Whitmore, 
as the head pupil of the school. Miss Whitmore approached Kossuth, 
holding in her hand a beautiful nosegay, and addressed him as follows: 

“ Sir : We present to you this in token of regard to your mother, 
whose name will ever be fragrant in our inemories, as the mother of a 
noble son. May she live to witness the great achievement which is 
the desire of your heart,— the rescue of your country from foreign 
oppression, and the restoration to it of more than its ancient 
liberties! ” 

Kossuth received the nosegay, and replied} with much emotion, in 
substance as follows: 

“I thank you for your kindness. My poor mother would desire 
the fulfilment of your kind wishes ; but, alas ! I fear she will not be 
spared. Such has been the pressure of adversity upon her in latter 
years, that I fear almost hourly to hear tidings of her departure. 
But she will look down from above upon us and upon you. I thank 
you, thank you very kindly ! ” 

The scholars then sung “Hail Columbia,” and Kossuth was next 


192 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


conducted to Mr Allen’s room, to which his class had previously 
repaired. Inscribed upon the black-board in this room was the fol¬ 
lowing extract from one of Kossuth’s speeches, executed by Misses 
Tewksbury and Chipman :—“Let the House of Austria trust to its 
bayonets and its Czar. The people of Hungary and myself,—we 
trust in God! ” 

After spending a few moments in this extremely well-arranged room, 
Kossuth and those accompanying him repaired to their carriages, and 
proceeded to the Primary School in East Orange-street. Here Kossuth 
was introduced to Miss Russell, the teacher, and several other ladies. 
Mr. Cook, President of the Primary Board, cordially welcomed Kossuth 
to the school. Upon the guests leaving, the children sung “ Remem¬ 
ber,” and “ Happy Land.” The visit gave much pleasure to Kossuth 
and his companions. 

The party then proceeded to the English High School, where Mr. 
Sherwin, the master, introduced Kossuth to the pupils as one with 
whose history they were well acquainted. The scholars were then 
examined in various studies. 

In the Latin School Dr. E. Beecher welcomed Kossuth in a speech 
of some length, in which he alluded to the public schools of Massa¬ 
chusetts as worthy of the attention of Kossuth, engaged, as he was, in 
the mission of introducing free institutions into the Old World. 

In reply, Kossuth said that he experienced great pleasure in what 
he had seen and heard concerning institutions of public instruction in 
the United States, and especially in Massachusetts. The higher 
institutions, as those for instruction in the Latin language, were 
important, for the reason that the highest philosophy of lifij and the 
mysteries of the human heart were sealed up in that literature. 

He cduld not look upon these institutions without feeling that it 
was but a place for instruction, rather than for education. Although 
greatly pleased with what he had seen, he was far from thinking the 
American system perfect. There was not freedom in instruction in 
the higher universities. 

The organization of the corps of professors was less perfect than 
that of the universities of Europe. The young gentlemen, he entreated, 
must not think instruction an employment for a period of life; it was 
the work of life itself. Who could say how far the human intellect 
could reach, what limit to the progress of our race, devoted to instruc¬ 
tion and not believing in education ? It Tyas the very venom of the 
flower to regard a system, or an attainment, as perfect. No advance 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


193 


can be made when sucb is the philosophy. He should gladly avail 
himself of the good wishes expressed for him and his country, when 
opportunity offered, of his experience in the United States, and 
especially in Massachusetts. It would give him great pleasure to 
listen to an exhibition of the attainment of the scholars. 

At the conclusion of his remarks, an extract from the speech of 
Webster on the trial of Knapp was spoken by one of the pupils, 
which, with some other exercises, closed the proceedings. Kossuth, 
who was evidently suffering greatly, returned to the Revere House. 


GERMAN KOSSUTH MEETING IN BOSTON. 

On Saturday, May 8th, the Germans of Boston enjoyed the pleasure 
of listening to an address, in the familiar language of the father-land, 
from the representative of Hungary. How highly they esteemed this, 
their numerous attendance testifies. From seven to eight hundred 
persons were assembled at the Melodeon. After the organization of 
the meeting, and the choice of Mr. Wagner as president, Messrs. B. 
Domschke and P. Piper as vice-presidents, and Messrs. E. Schlager 
and L. Meyer as secretaries, Kossuth, at eight o’clock, was intro¬ 
duced by the German committee. After the cheering had subsided, 
the Germania Serenade Band, accompanying the “ Liederkranz,” 
greeted him with the inspiring strains of the “ Mannerschwur.” Mr. 
Domschke, of the committee, then delivered the following address; 

“ German Fellow-citizens : Governor Kossuth is about to address 
you. This occasion is one of great importance to us. Apart from the 
pleasure which this announcement affords us all, it is also a fact of 
peculiar significance. Fellow-citizens, a man will address you who is 
the representative of a brave and freedom-loving people. Our hearts, 
too, beat for the freedom of the father-land, and in them will his 
heroic words find thousand-fold echoes, who unites in himself the sor¬ 
rows and the hopes of his nation. It will recall to our recollection the 
glorious deeds of a race who have avenged the base ingratitude of 
tyrants. When formerly Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, 
implored the Hungarians, with tears, to aid her against the enemies of 
her crown, they cried, ‘ Let us die for our queen! 5 A hundred 
IT 



194 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


years afterwards the imperial house, whose existence, the Hungarians 
had preserved, stains the soil with Hungarian blood ! It is for 
Governor Kossuth that the people of Hungary are waiting to avenge 
this blood-shed. In consideration furthermore of the bold persever¬ 
ance with which Governor Kossuth prepared and maintained a right¬ 
eous warfare against the hirelings of Jesuitical power, of the firmness 
with which he adhered to republican principles, and of the sacrifices 
he made for the regeneration of his oppressed people, this will be to us 
a memorable occasion. Let us give to Governor Kossuth our sympa¬ 
thy and our aid, that he, in union with other nations, may overthrow 
the worn-out dynasties of Europe, and upon the ruins of these old 
powers erect new states, wherein no longer murder shall be called 
justice, and lies be told by the grace of God. 

11 Mr. Governor, I invite you to address our German citizens, who 
honor you as the herald of the coming day.” 

SPEECH OF KOSSUTH TO THE GERMANS. 

“ Honored Assembly : I have this evening felt hearty satisfaction. 
I have considered this assembly as a new manifestation that the prin¬ 
ciple of the solidarity of the European war of freedom glows warmly 
in the hearts of the Germans in America. It is this sense of solidarity, 
the principle which I represent,— it is the sense of solidarity which 
awakens for me that touching, sincere and brotherly sympathy, with 
which the Germans in America everywhere approach me,—a sympathy 
which shall remain deeply impressed in the grateful recollections of 
my life, in so many respects a gloomy one. I trust that, by the 
mutual exchange of ideas, we may grow strong in the belief of 
Europe’s future, and in steadfast resolution, so that we may 
work together, to the best of our abilities, united by a common 
sympathy. 

“ But a rheumatic fever has so oppressed my head, that, with all 
the strength of my will, I am unable to reduce my thoughts to a logi¬ 
cal argument. I remember well that remark of Schiller, that the will 
has power to restrain the body, even against its will; but it is very 
difficult to force my brain to think now. I pray you, therefore, to 
excuse me, and, while offering my heart-felt thanks for your kindness, 
I will confine myself to a few dry statements, and rather offer you 
food for reflection than proceed to develop my ideas. 

il The Germans in America—and the remark applies to the pres- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


195 


ent assembly—are divided into two classes. The first class com¬ 
prises those who regard the hospitable shores of America not as a 
new home, but merely as a temporary asylum. Associates in a 
common misfortune, a sacrifice to the same stroke of destiny, they 
await here, with eager longing, the hour when they shall become 
fellow-soldiers of the united nations in the struggle against despotism. 
The second class consists of those who, emigrating from the father- 
land, have established themselves in a new home, but have still mani¬ 
fested a true love for the land of their birth, and have sympathized 
with the misfortunes, the hopes, the wishes and the sorrows, of those 
left behind. The first class I regard as an active element in the 
coming war in Europe; the other, as an element of assistance. In this 
consideration, it seems to me that a field of labor presents itself, common 
to both classes; and, moreover, a special field for each of them. Permit 
me to explain what pertains to the agency of both classes, and what to 
each one in its individual capacity. It pertains to the common 
efficacy of both to endeavor, by all their intellectual powers,— not by 
the press alone, nor merely through the German press, but by word 
and united action,— to oppose those prejudices by which our enemies 
are enabled to obstruct the national activity, as well as that of individ¬ 
uals, in America. Among those prejudices whereby success may be 
baffled, or at any rate weakened, it is necessary to reckon the opinion, 
that the interests of the United States are opposed to an active par¬ 
ticipation in the shaping of the future. It is for you, Germans of 
America, to represent and cherish the opposite principles. 

“In the gradual development of national being, a state arrives at that 
point where it is necessary for it to become a power upon earth. The 
United States have reached that position. It is for you to bring this 
fact continually before the public, to show that free America is not 
yet a power upon earth, because she has never yet had weight in the 
political balance ; — not that she has not the requisite strength, but 
because she has never had the desire. 

“It is for you to show what dangers will threaten, should a nation 
neglect to take the position which circumstances offer. Explain 
to the American public how propitious is the present moment for 
assuming this position among the nations of the earth, and upon the 
safe foundation of national right. Believe me, there is no surer found¬ 
ation for the position of might than upon the basis of right. It is, 
indeed, a rare good fortune to have such an opportunity presented, 
which, if neglected now, will, perhaps, not occur again in a century. 


196 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


The present state of Europe, the thousand signs of the times, remind 
us of this. Woe to Europe, I say, woe to mankind, if this opportunity 
shall pass unheeded! It is for you to bring this fact before the 
* American people, that, if they stand aloof in the impending struggle 
of the European nations against despotism, they separate themselves 
from the society of mankind;—whether despotism or freedom be tri¬ 
umphant, their position is isolated. In the former case, they will be 
isolated; for all intercourse, morally and materially, between repub¬ 
lican America and Europe, is dangerous to absolutism. But, on the 
other hand, if freedom is victorious, the nations of Europe, in their 
hour of prosperity, must stand aloof from that portion of the world 
which deserted them in their days of adversity and danger. 

“It is very easy to comprehend what are the consequences, in the 
present case, of a national isolation. The United States have either 
to wage a war for life and death with the whole world, or, at best, will 
sink to the level of Japan, China or Paraguay. 

“This is a prejudice which cannot be too perseveringly opposed. 
The next prejudice which works very perniciously against the consum¬ 
mation of brotherly union between these two quarters of the globe is, 
that the people of Europe are not fit for freedom and self-government. 
Truly, I am surprised to hear this reproach uttered against the foun¬ 
tain of civilization, of knowledge and worldly wisdom, from which even 
these United States have derived their strength; it is an insult to cast 
this reproach of unfitness into the teeth of the one hundred and 
fifty millions of Europe. It concerns the honor of the Germans of 
America to show that the forty millions of their countrymen in the 
heart of Europe are not unfitted to govern themselves; it concerns 
your own reputation, German citizens of America, to refute this cal¬ 
umny. Well may they feel pride in their own strength; but they 
must not suppose that with themselves all noble feeling has left the 
old father-land, or that nothing remains there worthy of a brighter 
future. 

“ It concerns your honor to bring back to the recollection of your 
fellow-citizens that, in fact, all who have emigrated to America are 
republicans ; but that the German citizens of America yield to no one 
in their conviction of the worth of such institutions, or in the practice 
of them. And now that they have emigrated hither and become 
republicans, how despondent we should feel, should the remaining 
millions, who are left behind, be condemned to remain forever in a 
state of infancy! 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


197 


“It concerns the honor of the German people, and particularly of 
, yourselves, to oppose this prejudice, that insults may not be added to 
our misfortunes. 

“No nation was born for slavery,but we were all born for freedom. 
What an absurdity, then, to say that man is not fitted for that state 
to which he was born ! 

“ The third prejudice is this: it is said that, as circumstances at 
present exist, if there is no prospect of an immediate revolution in 
Europe, it is useless to assist in sustaining preparations for that pur¬ 
pose. It is the old philosophy of the peasant in Horace, who waits for 
the stream to flow by, and continually exclaims, 1 We shall have time 
enough to-morrow,’ and again the next day, &c., &c. But there are 
many among you who were contemporaries in the times before 1849. 
In my feeble state of health I cannot relate or dwell upon^the his¬ 
tory of that time, so pregnant with meaning; but still the history of 
1848-49 is sufficient to teach every sensible man, first, that the move¬ 
ments of that period must have failed, and, secondly, that from that 
failure another revolution must necessarily follow. 

“ Keep this parallel ever before the eyes of the American people ; 
show them the abnormity of the condition of Europe, of the impossi¬ 
bility of its continuance, and the folly of relying upon a future which 
the death of a single man can immediately shake to its very centre. If 
false intelligence from Europe flies over hither, a commercial crisis at 
once ensues. 

“ I have myself seen it on the occasion of the report of the death 
of Louis Napoleon. And how, when one hundred and fifty millions of 
men are resolved to win freedom with their blood,— when, on the one 
side, there is this apprehension, and, on the other, the slightest breath 
may turn the scale,—can they say, indeed, the revolution has no chance? 
I must acknowledge the good will of our great-hearted friends in Amer¬ 
ica, who declare, “when the time comes, we shall not be wanting.” 
We shall see what mighty aid will come over from America. I believe 
— yes, I know — that there is no power on earth which can bid the 
brotherly beating of the pulse of the people of America be still. 

“ But, as to the men who by circumstances have been placed in the 
position to take the lead in effecting the revolution of Europe, they must 
feel the immense responsibility of building a plan upon such naked 
prospects. One can base no plan upon such hopes, upon such prom¬ 
ises ; you must have power in the hand, if you would strike the blow; 
it is important to spread abroad the conviction that it is a thousand 
17* 


198 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


times more useful that the men who, by circumstances, have been 
placed in a position to act as leaders, should be able to remain mas¬ 
ters of circumstances, than to promise aid for a time when assistance 
will be either useless or too late. 

“A fourth prejudice is, an unwillingness to go hand in hand with 
Great Britain in the adoption of foreign policy. It is your mission 
to teach the nations how the feelings of hatred are descended from 
former times, and cannot be our counsellors in the exigencies of the 
present. And it is among the conditions of the obtaining of liberty that 
England shall not place herself upon the side of despotism. We have, 
indeed, enemies enough. I trust that the moral influence of the Amer¬ 
ican people may make for us an ally even in the people of England. 

“ What an immense gain for mankind, what a guarantee for the 
future, would this determination of America create,— that this seed 
should mature, that America should take her stand for the law of 
nations, for the rights of the people ! Let America, with her moral 
influence, be on our side, and the people of Europe would find but few 
enemies to fight against. Never were there more reasons that the 
consciousness of the necessities of the present time should not be made 
subordinate to the hatred of former times. Especially should not the 
sins of governments be visited upon their people. Who has suffered 
more from Busia than my own unhappy father-land ? Do I, therefore, 
hate the people of Russia ? God sees my heart. I love it as a brother- 
nation, I desire its freedom, and I hope for it this future, even as I do 
the coming of liberty for every nation. And I speak not from mere 
philanthropy when I utter this, but it is the consequence of my 
wishes for my own father-land. Freedom isolated, certainly is not 
secure. Universal freedom is secure to all eternity ! 

“ Resistance to these prejudices is the common duty of both classes 
of the Germans in America. Let us consider the particular duties of 
the first class. It is natural and simple. This class consists of those 
emigrants who have no intention of making here a permanent home, 
but who await, with anxious longing, the hour which shall call them 
back to the old ancestral home. It must be the desire of their hearts 
to take part in the battle for the freedom of the German father-land. 
Their duty, therefore, at the present time, is, to be active, to be ready 
to fulfil their duties when the moment draws near. My poor com¬ 
panions in exile, who live scattered over the wide w’orld, asked me 
concerning the prospect of their taking part in this struggle. I have 
answered them that I consider their lot to be a sad destiny, for I 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


199 


feared that the emigration would lose itself in the ocean of America, 
so that no power could again gather them together; I feared, if the 
matter were not w T ell considered before, that but few emigrants would 
return to Europe and take a part; and that the German emigration 
could not be looked upon as an element of success, or as an effective 
element in the contest. It is for them to take such steps as shall 
enable the men whose duty it is, to raise the standard; and, before they 
do it, to enable them to know with certainty how much power they 
may expect as a reliable element for the liberty of Germany ! 

“ Of course, the laws of America prohibit the fitting out of an armed 
expedition, and it is the duty of the Germans to respect the laws of 
their hospitable asylum. 

“ But no law prohibits the exile to prepare himself to fulfil his 
duty towards his father-land, when time and circumstances shall per¬ 
mit. And, if these brave men whom I call my comrades in battle,— 
for the battle is common to all,—if they, in this preparation of 
themselves, will consider that the struggle in Europe is, and must be, 
a united one, then will they not be deceived. I, as a Hungarian, so 
look upon my duty, that I shall not fold my arms upon my breast and 
look to see what may be done anywhere in the world, or wait for a 
war to be begun in Hungary. No ! wherever the first blow shall be 
struck,— be it in the east or the west, the south or the north,— the 
blow will be struck for the common cause. It is the duty of exiles 
not only, gentlemen, to prepare their arms, but to hold themselves in 
readiness to take a part in the battle, whenever and wherever the con¬ 
test shall begin. 

11 As to the special duty of the second class, who depend, -with anx¬ 
ious longing, on their hopes for the future of Europe, and who find 
support for these hopes in their trust in God, and their trust in justice, 
it is for them to contribute material aid, so that, without loss of time, 
they may help to prepare the means of readiness for those of the first 
class. 

“ This may these men expect who would anew devote their lives in 
the battle of liberty. They say here, money is everything, and talk 
about the almighty dollar; but I declare to you that the almighty 
dollar is not so mighty as is the heart’s blood of brave men. Let us 
beware of that word, ‘ Too late ! 9 

“ When the time for action has come, and we first must look about 
to put ourselves in a position to act, time passes away, and with 


200 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


anxious sorrow we think and say, ‘ Had we only done earlier what we 
had determined to do in the matter ! 5 

“ If it was or should be a misfortune for the Germans to he divided 
into parties upon minor questions, let activity unite them, in spite of 
parties. Well may they depend on parties to get ready the means of 
help, not to be given to the one or the other party, but to hold them 
ready for the decisive moment; hut let this aid be ready, so that we may 
not be obliged to look about for it when every moment is pregnant with 
the issue. And further, it is your especial duty to throw your weight, 
as citizens, into the scale. 0, gentlemen, believe that the fact that the 
United States contain some millions of Germans has in it the finger 
of God,— this fact is providential! I do not say that the German 
citizens of America should act upon different principles from the other 
citizens ; but I believe it to be most fortunate that, when we consider 
circumstances, we shall find that the truest American patriotism is an 
active sympathy for the fate of Europe, to occupy en masse the lofty 
stand-point of a true, noble, American policy, and not to suffer the 
question in which pulsates the great heart of the future of the world to 
be dragged down upon the base stand-point of petty party differences ! 

“If you unite yourselves, so to use your position as citizens as the 
true interests of America require, then will you seek to verify the 
prophecy of Canning, that the New World is called to restore the 
equilibrium of the Old. And, if you take this position, then will you 
also show to your brethren in Europe that Germany , the heart of 
Europe, finds a mighty support in the Germans in America. Proving 
that in this way, you will exert an influence at home, to effect a unity 
of combination for the general revolution over all party divisions. You 
can assist only through what you do and prepare. It is a time for 
action. By action one gets influence, by action one becomes master 
of circumstances,— otherwise, not. 

“ There is need, in Germany, of causing the disappearance of this 
little contest of theories before one great idea. The revolution is a 
common one. It is the struggle of the united nations. But, gentle¬ 
men, if you believe that, if one treats with me, he treats with the Hun¬ 
garian nation, and consider that A or B is in the same relation to 
France or Italy, how important for the future of the world that even 
Germany can personify the will of her people, when it appoints a 
man through whom it may take a part in the combination for the 
revolution! It would be of immense importance to place Germany in 
the front rank of the battle; but, if the plan be not consummated (and 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


201 


one can make plans only in secret), that country, unrepresented, can¬ 
not be included in the scheme. 

“ It is your duty to create such a personification in a man,— or, if 
it must be, in a committee. When it is seen in Europe that the 
Germans in America are a support of the freedom of Europe, then 
they will have a word to say as to the ordering of the movement; but, 
if you delay, then you will have no influence, and the very men in 
whom the power of the nation is represented, to whom the lead is given 
in the battle, will have to omit great Germany from their plans. I 
am too much exhausted to develop to you further this point. My 
friend Pulszky will present to you his views upon this question. 

“We are so intimately connected, that I will undertake to 
guarantee his views. When you hear him, you hear also my views. 
Yet a few words. It is a sad fate, that I should have scattered this 
seed in the heart of America, and must now leave it, when, if tended, 
it might grow up to a mighty tree. I am near the time when I shall 
leave America. Duty calls me back. Who will watch the tender 
plant, when I am no longer here ? Who will shelter it from the frosts 
of indifference ? Germans of America! take it under your protec¬ 
tion. Let me beseech you, be the guardians of this tender plant! If 
you nurse it with German truth, with American energy then will it 
grow and bear fruit; and the world will bless the hour which Provi¬ 
dence points out, which brought over here millions of Germans, who 
shall become the awakening strength and the link between the Old 
World and the New, to the common triumph of freedom and the uni¬ 
versal welfare of mankind! 

“ I pray for a little place in your good hearts for the remembrance 
of the poor, homeless Hungarian.” 

Kossuth spoke three-quarters of an hour, and introduced M. Pulszky, 
who made a very forcible address. The band and vocalists then gave 
the great national song, “The German’s Father-land,” in an excellent 
manner; after which, the meeting adjourned, with the same proofs of 
warm enthusiasm which had marked it throughout the evening. 

“To hear Kossuth speak in German,” says the Commonwealth’s 
report of the meeting, “was an enjoyment which we could desire for 
every one who has heard him in English. There was a melody in his 
voice, an ease in his speaking, and a connection in his thoughts, not 
easily imagined, from hearing him in a language which he cannot 
speak without an effort.” 


202 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


KOSSUTH IN ROXBURY. 

A public meeting of the citizens of Roxbury invited Kossuth to 
visit that city, and appointed a committee to make appropriate arrange¬ 
ments for his reception. Accordingly, at six o’clock, p. M, on Mon¬ 
day, May 10, a deputation of the committee— Charles M. Ellis, Esq., 
chairman — waited upon the Hungarian at the Revere House, and 
conducted their distinguished guest and suite, accompanied by General 
Wilson of the State Committee, and other gentlemen, to carriages 
without, and proceeded to the line of Roxbury, where Kossuth was 
received by the Roxbury Artillery, Captain Webber, a company of 
firemen, and an immense gathering of the people. 

After saluting Kossuth, the military wheeled into line, and the pro¬ 
cession passed through the principal streets of the city, wdiich were 
lined with men, women and children, to the beautiful Highlands of 
Roxbury, stopping at the elegant residence of Mr. Ellis, where Kos¬ 
suth was introduced to a select company of ladies and gentlemen, 
among whom were the Hon. Samuel H. Walley, Rev. Hr. Putnam, 
and Rev. Theodore Parker. After partaking of a sumptuous repast, 
Kossuth and suite w T ere conveyed in carriages to Norfolk Hall, which 
was densely crowded with an anxiously waiting audience. Upon 
entering the hall, Kossuth was greeted with three times three cheers 
by the audience, standing. Upon reaching the platform, he gracefully 
bowed his thanks, and sat down, apparently much fatigued. 

Over the platform were blended the Hungarian and American flags, 
draped. In the back-ground was suspended a banner, bearing the 
words, “Welcome Kossuth!” 

The services commenced with an announcement by Hr. Streeter, 
from the committee of arrangements, of the following named gentle¬ 
men as officers of the evening : 

President — Charles M. Ellis. 

Vice-presidents — Linus B. Comins, J. Wingate Thornton, Tim¬ 
othy R. Nute, Charles Ellis, Rev. W. H. Ryder, Rev. J. S. Shailer, 
Walter Farnsworth, B. F. Campbell. 

Secretary — Franklin Williams. 

Mr. Ellis then arose and welcomed Kossuth in the following speech: 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


203 


MR. ELLIS’ SPEECH. 

cc Ladies and Gentlemen : We meet to greet the one to whom 
your hearts have long yearned to give a personal welcome. And now, 
when at last he is with you, natural impatience might well pardon the 
omission of the words, befitting the hour, expressive of your emotions; 
for he comes amongst you as well and long beloved friends, whose 
meeting cannot be deferred. There is no one living who fills a larger 
place in this nation’s heart. There is no one who can look with purer 
joy or higher hopes to its spirit, its life, its destiny. 

11 The sight of one moulding the institutions of an old and mighty 
nation, to secure those blessings of civil government whose establish¬ 
ment here made an era in the history of the world,— of the devotion 
of a martyr-spirit, in youth and manhood, in prison, in the halls of 
council, on the battle-field, rousing his native state, or rallying the 
hosts of the nations of the world, which (for there has good fortune 
cast his happy lot) he may now call his father-land, could not but 
move with tumultuous emotion every American heart. But it rouses 
feelings that could not be reached by the most generous sympathy. 

“ Welcomed to this land and people, turning westward, he sees the 
flames of liberty blazing across the breadth of the continent. Turn¬ 
ing back hither, he finds no waste spot lying in ashes, but a fair land, 
whose people keep forever burning on their altars those sacred fires. 

“ Every spot here is sacred to liberty. This is her classic land. 
We see the unity of our entire history. We feel the unity of that of 
humanity. And the forts on our hills, the church-spire here, the 
church by the brook, the very rocks, speak out to us, Be faithful — be 
steadfast. 

“ The spirits of the sainted heroes, the brave souls consecrated to 
liberty, immortals lingering around mortal homes, call to us (we rejoice, 
sir, that the voice of the one you did us the honor to name is music 
to your ear), — they call to us, Be noble — be brave ! 

“ Spirits of the departed of an earlier day! repeat to us the great 
words of one who, once himself a brave soldier in a foreign war, here 
beneath this hill found a home in exile, 1 Remember the end of your 
coming hither, and trust in the power of God.’ 

“ We see great movement in the civil world. 

11 On this continent is plenty, peace, justice; want, war, wrong, 
within the other. But their fortunes are not sundered. Over that 
we see gathering the black, terrific clouds, the quick flashes of the 


204 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


tempest, and hear peal on peal of the deep-rolling and rattling thun¬ 
der. On ours we feel but the sweet influence of the gentle, blessed 
shower, or the clear sunshine, as it passes away. But, high in heaven, 
the whole civilized world catches fainter or brighter glimpses of a bow 
that shall gloriously over-arch it all. Those clouds are big with mercy, 
and shall burst in blessings on the world. 

11 To the great future all look wflth like hopes. One law, one God, 
is over all men and all nations. Wherever men toil for principle, they 
have a common bond and a common lot. Looking onward, then, with 
such hopes and with faith, his struggles for liberty assume a grander 
aspect. 

“ They show not only courage, patriotism, love of civil and religious 
liberty, all that social organization can do for man, but devotion to the 
grander principles on which rest the civil, the social, the human world, 
—the great primal laws that join all men and all nations of the earth 
in one common brotherhood. 

“ Thus in him are your hopes centred with your affections. 

“ Thus, sir, let us bid you welcome ! To you we can bring no new 
honors. We can but join in the general burst of welcome. But we 
catch something of the spirit in which, when the shades of your coun¬ 
try’s martyrs flitted before your sight, you consecrated your powers to 
the sacred cause which is common to the world. With such visions 
before us, we can only rejoice at the inspiration of a kindred spirit, 
and pray for the success of the great work before the nations of the 
world. 

“ Gathering round you whilst you gird on new armor as our cham¬ 
pion, we remember that we only welcome you as you turn again to 
lead the holy war. 

“ And we raise the cry of victory, with which a just God will crown 
the right. If you see it not here, remember 1 the ends thou aim’st 
at are thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s ; and, if thou fallest, thou 
fallest a blessed martyr.’ ” 

The following was Kossuth’s reply: 

kossuth’s speech in roxbury. 

“ Ladies and Gentlemen : From me you will not hear any such 
eloquent words as you have just heard; but, if a noble and generous 
heart speaks thus, it must be because there is inspiration in the cause 
which inspires such eloquence. Although the consciousness of duty, 
and the inspiration of my life’s noble aim, were yet always sufficient to 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


205 


support my strength in bearing up against difficulties,— still, I liked, 
even in happier days, to nerve my untiring perseverance by the mag¬ 
netism of history. The memory of good men is a common inherit¬ 
ance to all mankind. Every man should feel bound to conserve it by 
endeavoring to be alike good. History, so considered, will be an over¬ 
flowing well of inspiration. It is a battery of spiritual electricity, 
conveying the heavenly spark, glistening in the records of former 
deeds, to living hearts. By following its impulses, they may transmit 
it to coming generations, and strengthen its effect by multiplying its 
results. If we could look into the mysteries of the nativity of thoughts 
and sentiments, we should see that, in the most cases, it is the mag¬ 
netic influence either of a historical fact, or of a living example, which 
unconsciously decides the life-course of eminent men. There is an 
intimate affinity between the hidden inclinations of our souls, which 
decide the direction of all our life, and corresponding historical facts. 
And, should ever the direction of our life have been decided otherwise, 
the sparks of the magnetism of history never fail to come to our sup¬ 
port ; and, according to the laws of spiritual affinity, the memory of such 
men never can fail to exert a beneficial influence over our minds, w T ho 
have been most conspicuous by those qualities which the circumstances 
of our own position require us to acquire and to exercise. 

“ Conscious of the nobility of my life’s aim,— conscious of its vital¬ 
ity and of its certain success, provided that it be pursued with unfal¬ 
tering perseverance,— to me no quality is of a higher necessity than 
self-sacrificing devotion; for nothing I pray so fervently to God as 
that, however bitter may be the cup I have yet to drink, my heart may 
always retain an entire self-sacrificing devotion to my country’s cause. 
It is therefore that the affections of my heart like to linger on places 
connected with touching recollections of devotedness. Such recollec¬ 
tions are a fountain of strength to me; and such a place is Eoxbury. 
In the history of your city I find two names bright with the lustre of 
immortality for self-sacrificing devotion. Eliot and Warren are the 
two names. 

“When I think of Eliot,— how he went in the wilderness among 
the barbarous Indians alone, exposed to the most terrifying dangers, 
opposed by violence, having nothing to protect him but the power 
of his mind, firm like the mountain oaks; when I think of his plain 
words, displaying the sublimest devotion in their very simplicity, when 
he wrote that he had not been dry day or night, but pulled off his 
boots and wrung bis stockings, and on with them again, and went on 
18 


206 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


his self-chosen apostolate ; when I think that Eliot was able to sacri¬ 
fice himself with such a devotion to Indians, bound with no other ties 
to his heart than that they were men,— then the thought of my country 
comes like a flame over my heart, and the boundless love I feel for her 
makes me almost ashamed that there is no power, no higher sentiment, 
given to the heart of mortal man to be inspired with for our father-land, 
than untiring devotion,— a sentiment which an Eliot, even for the 
Indians, was able to feel. 

“ But, if it be the doom of mortality that that be all we can do, even 
for our own people,— for our own native land,— then be sure, 0 my 
country! that tribute of duty I will at least pay to thee faithfully. 
Thou mayest have children more successful in serving thee (and God 
grant thou mayest have many of them!), but this heart of mine, and 
the iron perseverance of this heart, will never yield in devotion to any 
man who ever loved his father-land. 

“ The devotion of Eliot was that of a Christian philanthropist; of 
Warren, that of a patriot. I drank the inspiration of his self-sacri¬ 
ficing devotion there where he died. I drink it here again on the spot 
where he was born. 

“ Citizens of Boxbury, I thank you for having invited me to this 
place, the historical recollections of which are pouring forth the inspir¬ 
ation of devoted perseverance. I dare say I had it all my life; but 
of that we can never have too much. 

11 But as to my task, gentlemen, I dare also say that the double 
devotion, as we see it personified in different directions, by Eliot and 
Warren,—the devotion of Christian philanthropism and that of patriot¬ 
ism,— meet together in one common merit of the cause I plead. All¬ 
ruling Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, has imparted such an 
importance to my country’s cause, that, in devoting my life to her 
freedom, I dare to say I am performing not only the duty of patriot¬ 
ism, but in the same time the duty of Christian philanthropism. 

“ The struggle which, engaged in Hungary, develops its consequences 
in such an alarming manner, is, in its unavoidable continuance, not of 
a particular interest, restricted to one country, to one nationality, 
or limited by geographical boundaries; it is a struggle the ultimate 
issue of which will be felt through all the world. 

“ Look to Europe, and one highly remarkable fact cannot fail to 
arrest your attention ; and that is, that, while yet four years ago you 
have seen the nations of Europe divided by national rivalries, many of 
them animated by aspirations to conquer and rule others, now the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


207 


blind fury of national antagonism has suddenly subsided as by an 
enchantment, and a common feeling of solidarity is now manifesting 
itself, like an all-pervading fundamental tone in harmony,— as the 
Germans say, a ‘ grund tone ,’—across all the aberrations of the pass¬ 
ing moment, and across all dissonances of fluctuating vicissitudes. 
When has ever in history occurred such a prodigious fact? The 
fabulous halcyon calming the roaring waves is scarcely an approxi¬ 
mate image for this sudden change. 

“ What is the mysterious power which worked this sudden change ? 
Is it, perhaps, some great man impressing the mark of his powerful 
individuality upon the contemporary age ? No. The age we live in 
is not rich in great men; no individual greatness is over-towering 
humanity,— all disappear, all are overshadowed by the spirit of the 
age; — men are small, but the time is great. What, then, has operated 
that sudden wonderful change, by which the antagonism of nationali¬ 
ties is replaced by fraternity of nationalities ? The instinctive appre¬ 
hension of a danger, common to all nations, common to all nation¬ 
alities,— that is the key to the mystery. Europe is aware that 
principles are brought to a decisive strife, the issue of which must be 
felt by all the nations of Europe; is aware that the prophetic word, 
long ago foretold by Mr. Webster, is about to be literally realized,— 
the word, that the principles of the despotic league (styled Holy 
Alliance) extended divide society horizontally , leaving the sove¬ 
reigns above and all the 'people below,—the one set up above all 
ride and restraint , the others put down to be trampled beneath 
their feet . 

“ Europe is aware of this fact; and the nations, obedient to the neces¬ 
sary impulse of their position, forget, at once, their old rivalries, and in 
that horizontal division of society take their stand where they shall 
and where they must, nation with nation, people with people, and men 
with men. The physical force of the continental European govern¬ 
ments having formed a union against the rights of the people in all 
countries, it is natural that popular aspirations of all countries flock 
together, with the instinct of the necessity of a common resistance 
against a common oppression. It is therefore, I say, that whosoever 
is animated by the devotion of patriotism has the devotion of philan- 
thropism, because now-a-days true patriotism is in its efficacy philan¬ 
thropic. 

11 But give me leave to say, gentlemen, that, such being the condition 
of the world, the inclination of remaining isolated (which I like to call 


208 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the policy of the silk-worm) must be dangerous to whatever people on 
earth; so much that I dare say, with nations yet free, the most 
enlightened philanthropy is in its effects the best and the wisest 
patriotism. It is the magnetic influence of this truth which I saw 
manifested in the sympathy and brotherly affection with which the 
people of the United States answered my humble appeal everywhere. 
Would to God that this universal instinct of the people’s heart would 
go on everywhere, developing by calm consideration into such a con¬ 
viction of the public intellect as it is my happy lot to see developed 
here in Massachusetts ! x 

“ God forbid that I should wish the people of the United States to 
take a single step inconsistent with the duties of patriotism ! No; all 
I desire is that American patriotism should weigh the interests of 
America not by the narrow scale of the passing moment, or of a small 
party interest, but that it should rise to a position sufficient to over¬ 
look from the country at large, in all its relations and in all its neces¬ 
sities, and to overlook from not only the present, but also the conditions 
of its future security. American patriotism, elevated to that high 
position, I am sure of it, must condemn the short-sightedness of isola¬ 
tion, and must become in its activity philanthropic. 

“ It is already long ago, gentlemen, that Czar Alexander, of Russia, 
declared that henceforth governments should have no particular policy, 
but only a common one, the policy of safety of all governments ; as if 
governments were the aim for which the nations exist, and not nations 
the aim for which governments exist. 

“ This doctrine of united governmental policy, in opposition to 
national policy, having the only tendency tor safe-guard governments, 
however bad and oppressive they be,— nay, to safe-guard them pre¬ 
cisely when they are oppressive and bad, because good governments 
are sufficiently safe-guarded by the affections of the governed — they 
require no foreign support,— this doctrine of a common policy of 
governments is neither more nor less than the policy of united force 
against right; it is the doctrine of interference by force for any 
government against any people who resist its oppression. That doc¬ 
trine was first practically advanced in 1815, by that infernal league 
which the despots, with foul mockery, called the Holy Alliance. 

“But it was evident that the interfering power, by its very inter¬ 
ference, gains the ascendency of a master over that power in whose 
favor it interferes. It was evident that, whenever a government cannot 
maintain itself against the resistance of the governed but by foreign 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


209 


aid, that government has lost the strength to stand by itself, and 
becomes a vassal to that foreign power. We have, therefore, seen the 
members of that alliance, though readily executing that fatal principle 
towards others, long carefully avoiding its application to themselves. 
They have well known that against foreign attack foreign aid may be 
claimed and accepted without any forfeiture of national independence ; 
but a government standing against its own people by foreign aid loses 
its independence. Hence the wavering character of their policy from 
1815 to 1848 ; a continual endeavor to oppress, and a continual retreat, 
by half-measured concessions, when opposition was about to assume 
the character of resistance. 

“ Russia has grown in the mean time, drawing, by the skill of its 
diplomacy, profit out of every European strife. To become the master 
of the first-rate powers, and to sum up in its own unity the infernal 
trinity of the Holy Alliance, nothing more was wanted but an oppor¬ 
tunity to interfere for a so-called great power against its own subjects. 
To come to that end, no craft, no intrigue, was spared. There was a 
constant declaration from St. Petersburg against constitutional con¬ 
cessions. They have been branded with the name of cowardice, 
styled to be a suicide of the authority of governments and of the 
divine right of sovereigns, and the kings have been urged to strike 
resolutely at the constitutional aspirations of their nations, encouraged 
by the promise of ready Russfkn aid, should they be resisted. 

“ At last, the folly of a childish puppet, pulled by the criminal 
ambition of a woman in the imperial palace at Vienna, anxious to rule 
at any price, afforded the long-desired opportunity to Russia. 

“ It was the certainty of Russian aid which gave the boldness to the 
court of Vienna to attack, perjuriously, Hungary. The principle of 
interference is carried out. Hungary is the sacrifice of it,— the 
balance of power is overthrown,— the autocrat of Russia is the dic¬ 
tator on the European continent! But it is the doom of ambition not 
to be able to stop. The word is sure which the Scythians said to 
Alexander of Macedonia, ‘ Hadst thou conquered the world, thou 
wouldst try to build a bridge to the moon to extend thy conquest to 
it. 5 Russia can rule the European continent only by ruling the 
world. It must go on, or fall; and it goes on. It has absorbed the 
independence of all the continental governments of Europe. It has 
embodied in itself, as a unity, the principle of absolutism. 

11 The nations of Europe, on the continent, have got a master . 
Many nations,—one master. That very word discloses the necessity of 
18* 


210 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


our age: that necessity is resistance: and whatever is a necessity, that 
will be done. The nations of Europe will resist. The logic of neces¬ 
sity never can belie itself. That being the condition of the world, 
what is the evident result of it for England and America ? 

“ They represent the principle of national sovereignty. They are 
the only remaining representatives of it. Now, if they are not willing 
to fight single-handed and alone against the opposite principle, if 
they are not willing to concentrate upon themselves all the danger of 
the contest, they must countenance the resistance of right against the 
principle of force. If they neglect to do it while there are yet others 
to perform the part of resistance, the necessity of resistance must come 
home to them. That is so evident, that I am at a loss to decide how 
it is possible to doubt about it. The policy of true patriotism for 
America and England is clearly pointed out by those circumstances. 

“ National existence rests on the principle of the mutual independ¬ 
ence of the nations. 

“ The league of despots, substituting for this principle the antag- 
onistical principle of interference, introduced force into the place of 
laws. With us in Europe, force having already been introduced, we 
cannot resist it but by force. Sword against sword, that is our neces¬ 
sity. But what is already a fact with us is already threatening dan¬ 
ger to you. Your necessity, therefore, is to oppose law to force, and 
to support by the authority of law the Resistance which we oppose to 
force. That assistance can but increase the chance of our success; and, 
if we succeed, you will be saved the trial to resort to force,— whereas, 
if we fail, there is no choice left to you but the sword against sword, 
resistance against force. Prevent that necessity before it is too late. 
It may be a noble pride to meet it, but it is best to prevent it. The 
best patriotism for America is national philanthropy for Europe. The 
sympathy which millions of Americans feel and profess is the best 
direction for American policy. 

“ Seventy-five years ago, the struggle for independence became a 
necessity; and you are free because your forefathers have not considered 
their own comfort, but yielded, with devotion, to the necessity of their 
time. The thirteen states confederated for resistance. Independence 
achieved, your fathers felt that the loose tie of confederation was not 
sufficient to guarantee that independence; — union was a necessity, 
and it was made. 

“ Well, what was the chief motive for the union 7 It was that, your 
national existence resting on the basis of the laws of nations, you 


i 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


211 


must have a national government strong enough to maintain those 
laws. Now the time has come to do it, because the laws of nations 
are contradicted by the power of force. It is a necessity of your 
existence to support those laws. By abandoning them you would 
abandon the foundation upon which you stand. Be not only a happy 
country, but also a power on earth. That is your present necessity. 
Internal freedom is not sure without external independence, and inde¬ 
pendence is not sure if it depends but on the sword. 

11 Bight and law, restored to full authority, is a better security. 
We will fight for right and law. Give us that aid that you pronounce 
in favor of that right and law for which we struggle, and for which we 
will fight. In pronouncing in its favor now, you will have spared 
yourselves the trouble to fight for it. The freedom and prosperity 
of seventy-five years is a glorious view; but seventy-five years are 
not a security for eternity. Boxbury is built on rocky ground, and 
rock is a good foundation to build upon. Still you took for your motto 
that Boxbury trusts to God and to its right arm — £ Dextris Deoque 
Conjidens? 

“I also trust in God; and, thanking you for the kindness of your 
hearts, feel encouraged by that kindness to hope you will not withhold 
a brother’s right hand when patriotism itself claims it to support the 
rights and the laws of humanity. 

££ I have to request your kind indulgence, ladies and gentlemen. I 
am sick, very sick; and I am ashamed to be sick. Believe me, gen¬ 
tlemen, if I had not before me friends, and I had the opportunity to 
strike one good blow for my country, though thrice as sick, I could 
command the force to strike. [Applause.] But, as I am here, I can 
scarcely command force, from my infirmity, to speak. But, believe 
me, gentlemen, whatever my fate may be,— to fall a victim before the 
hour of victory, or to see the day,—I am ready to accept it. Though 
I may fall even in the first battle of our renewed struggle, as Warren 
did, it will be with the certain hope that the spirit of this shattered 
frame, from the regions beyond the grave, will look down on a world 
of free nations, secured in that freedom by the fraternal love of all 
humanity! ” 

After Kossuth had concluded, the audience called for a speech from 
General Wilson; but, at his request, Mr. Ellis begged the audience to 
excuse him, as it was necessary Kossuth should retire. 

From the hall, Kossuth and suite, under conduct of the committee 


212 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of arrangements, proceeded to the residence of Hon. William Whiting, 
on Montrose-avenue, where he was introduced to several ladies and 
gentlemen. A banquet was given by Mr. Whiting to Kossuth, but 
the Hungarian was too ill to honor the occasion with his presence. 
He remained at Mr. Whiting’s but a few moments, and then returned 
to Boston. 

Montrose-avenue, and nearly all the elegant mansions therein, were 
illuminated in honor of Kossuth’s visit. 

The reception was throughout one of the most hearty and enthusias¬ 
tic that was given to Kossuth in New England. 


\ 

KOSSUTH IN LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. 

Kossuth, having been invited to visit the first battle-fields of the 
Ee volution, left Boston at ten o’clock on Tuesday morning, May 11, 
in company ’with several members of the State Committee. He pro¬ 
ceeded first to the town of West Cambridge. 

On his arrival at West Cambridge centre, Kossuth was conducted 
from his carriage to a stand, beautifully arched over with American 
flags, and draped with the Austrian flag, so arranged as to exhibit the 
crown in the centre of it in an inverted position, directly beneath the 
feet of the Magyar. On each side of this stand,— which was im¬ 
mediately in front of the monument erected in 1848 to commemorate 
the names of the twelve men who were slain by the British troops in 
that town on the 19th of April, 1775,— the school-children, to the 
number of four or five hundred, were stationed. In front, a cavalcade, 
numbering about two hundred horsemen, were drawn up in line, so as 
to form a large hollow square, which was filled with citizens of the 
town. During the delivery of the following speeches, the greatest 
silence and most perfect order were observed. Kossuth’s welcome in 
West Cambridge was most cordial and appropriate; aud the manner in 
which the ceremonies were conducted reflects the highest credit upon 
the intelligence and patriotism of its citizens. The arrangements for 
the occasion were conducted by a committee consisting of J. P. Pettee, 
M. W. Marsh, Benjamin Poland, J. C. Potter, and John Schouler. 

Rev. Thomas Hill, on behalf of the citizens, addressed Kossuth as 
follows: 


KEY. THOMAS HILL’S ADDRESS. 

“ Gov. Kossuth : The duty and the honor of extending to you 
the hand of welcome upon this occasion devolves upon me. And, sir, 
in behalf of the authorities of the town, in behalf of my fellow-citizens 
who this day have come out from their homes, their work-shops and their 
fields, to greet you with their presence and their smiles of approbation, 
I bid you a sincere and cordial welcome to the town of West Cam¬ 
bridge. 

“ The people of this town, as you will find them in every part of 


214 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


our commonwealth, are familiar with your name, your personal history, 
and the noble, manly struggle of your country for its rightful liberties; 
and, sir, reverencing the cause of universal freedom in their hearts, 
they are desirous of honoring you, the worthy representative of that 
cause, which, though crushed to earth on the soil of Hungary, they, 
as do your own brave countrymen, hope ere long to see rise again in 
triumph over oppression. 

“ Not much can we claim of the immortal fame that sounds abroad, 
in the names so familiar here and everywhere, of Lexington, Concord, 
and Bunker Hill. No formal action between the forces of King 
George and the pioneers of liberty in America took place on our soil; 
yet, sir, it is worthy of notice, that more blood was shed, and more 
lives were lost, in this town, than in any other which the enemy visited 
on the memorable 19th of April, 1775. Through this town did he 
advance, boastful and insolent, upon the town of Concord; and through 
this town did his shattered forces return, after his disastrous and 
unexpected reception at that place. Maddened and chagrined did he 
commence his retreat, marked all along with vengeance and outrage 
upon defenceless people; but, so aroused and indignant became the 
inhabitants, that his retreat through this place was little less than a 
complete rout. 

“ Within the range of your eye are buildings now standing which 
bear the marks of the enemy’s shot; within the same distance did the 
aged patriots of the village attack and capture the baggage-wagons, 
and thus cut off the supplies of the aggressors. And here, along the 
route which leads to other memorable spots you are soon to visit, did 
blood and death mark the devotion of the people of this place to the 
cause of human freedom. 

“And yonder granite obelisk, so modest, yet so eloquent in its 
repose, and the brief story it tells of former days, now stands above 
the remains of twelve gallant men, whose lives were offered up on their 
country’s altar. Their spirits from above greet you to-day! As they 
fell, so were they buried, in a common grave. But a few years ago 
the citizens of the town collected the ashes together, and placed above 
them yonder stone, as a memorial of their deeds, and a guide to where 
they lie. The inscription tells us that but three of their names have 
been preserved from oblivion; but, sir, though their names are lost, yet 
the memory of their generous patriotism still lives fresh and warm in 
the hearts of those who now look upon their tomb. They are among 
the nameless dead, the sacrifice of whose lives is felt in a nation’s 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


215 


destiny, but whose names are never recorded on the pages of its 
history. 

“ These tilings are local, and may seem trivial; but, sir, it is the 
little things in a nation’s history and character that form the basis of 
its greatness. We boast not of victories, we glory not in war. We 
love freedom, and we love peace. But we claim the right and the 
ability to govern ourselves. Hungary has the ability, and may the 
same right to her soon be acknowledged ! The Austrian banner and 
crown are now beneath your feet. So may the rights of man rise 
above the emblems and the power of despotism ! 

ce Again I bid you welcome to our pleasant village. The hearts and 
sympathies of this people are with you, and the noble cause you plead; 
and may God grant that we may yet hear of you as the Governor of 
Hungary, not in exile, but at home, administering the laws to a free 
and happy people, like that which greets you to-day,— your name 
associated with the cause of liberty in Europe, like that of our immortal 
Washington in America.” 

Kossuth replied in substance as follows : 

KOSSUTH’S SPEECH AT WEST CAMBRIDGE. 

“I thank you for your kind and generous reception. It is inspir¬ 
ing to me to behold this evidence of sympathy for my country, and 
regard for myself, on the part of the citizens of West Cambridge. 
But, sir, you do injustice to this town, when you say its historical 
recollections are only of a local interest. They are not local; for the 
events connected with the struggles of the American Revolution are 
of interest, not only here, but throughout the world. They are felt 
now in the public spirit of the country, and are seen in the sympathy 
shown to the poor exile of a foreign land, now bleeding from the 
wounds of tyranny. I like to stand on hallowed ground, for it is full 
of inspiration to me; it gives me consolation and hope. A victory 
over an enemy, or a defeat, is not much in itself. It is the use that 
is made of it that gives it consequence and importance. The people 
of America have thus far made a good use of their success, yet they 
have not completed their destiny. Liberty was not granted to your 
forefathers as a selfish boon; your destiny is not completed, till, by the 
aid and influence of America, the oppressed nations of the earth are 
regenerated and made free. 

“ I admire the readiness with which the men of the American Rev- 


216 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


olution met the wants of their country, regardless of consequences. 
They did not foresee the important consequences which would result 
from their conduct. Those men whose names are now unknown, but 
whose deeds are commemorated by the silent repose and eloquence of 
that monument, were not aware of what would follow this conduct. 
They fought and laid down their lives only with the feelings of free 
men. And it adds to the greatness and generosity of their conduct, 
because they entered the contest for liberty with no ambition for fame, 
and without caring whether their names should be known to posterity 
or not, only that their country and their children should be free. The 
influence of the sacrifice they made has not yet ceased; for free Amer¬ 
ica must yet regenerate the world. 

“In the erection of that monument, which you say was in 1848, I 
see an evidence that America has not yet completed her destiny. It 
was in 1848 that your citizens erected a monument to commemorate 
the first struggle of this country for liberty, and it was in 1848 that 
the struggle for liberty in the Old World broke out again. The spirit 
of freedom lives here, and is seen in a regard for the memories of the 
past; it lives, too, in Europe, and is seen in the struggles of the pres¬ 
ent, and hopes for the future. And, sir, the Old World, oppressed and 
loaded with chains, dispirited with defeat, needs to be inspired and 
strengthened with the example, the encouragement, and the young 
blood, of America.” 

At the conclusion of this speech, Miss Susan Richardson and Miss 
Marietta Erost were introduced on the stand; and Miss Richardson 
presented a beautiful bouquet, remarking,— “Governor Kossuth, allow 
me, in behalf of our public schools, to present you this as a slight token 
of our love for you, and the cause of liberty.” 

Kossuth replied, by thanking the ladies very cordially for their 
beautiful flowers. He said he regretted that they must so soon wither, 
and invoked a blessing on the young ladies for their kind regard. 

The procession was then re-formed, and Kossuth, escorted by the 
horsemen of West Cambridge and the neighboring towns, proceeded to 
the boundary-line of the town of Lexington, where he was received by 
the Lexington committee and a large body of horsemen. Many of the 
houses and trees on the route were finely decorated with flags and 
streamers. The procession moved on until it reached the residence 
of Jonathan Harrington, ninety-four years of age, the only survivor 
in Lexington of the action of April 19, 17T5, to whom Kossuth 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


217 


was introduced, and to whom he addressed a few words. When the 
procession reached the Lexington House, a short stop was made. 
Thence it proceeded to the Common, where a rostrum had been 
erected against the monument, and appropriately decorated. Over 
the entrance to the Common was the inscription, “ Welcome to the 
Birth-place of American Liberty.” A large number of school- 
children, boys and girls, were ranged along the walk to the stand, 
and greeted Kossuth as he passed. 

On reaching the platform, Kossuth was introduced, by Colonel I. H. 
Wright, to Hon. Charles Hudson, chairman of the Lexington com¬ 
mittee. 


col. wright’s speech. 

“Mr. Chairman of the Citizens’ Committee of Lexington: 
I have the honor to present to you Louis Kossuth, the honored guest 
of our state and nation, the gallant champion of Hungarian independ¬ 
ence, the able and indomitable advocate of civil liberty, the rightful 
Governor of Hungary. 

“ Bear with me while I say that no worthier pilgrim could come to 
pay his vows at this, our shrine of liberty; for he is consecrated by a 
mission kindred to that which hallows the memory of the martyrs of 
1775, whose blood has sanctified this spot, of all the earth, whereon we 
stand.” 

Mr. Hudson, in behalf of his townsmen, then addressed Kossuth: 


MR. HUDSON’S ADDRESS. 

“ Governor Kossuth : As the organ of the citizens of Lexington, 
I bid you a cordial welcome to this quiet and peaceful village. We 
are assembled here this morning to pay our honors and to tender our 
sympathy to one who, in other lands, has so nobly vindicated the rights 
of man against the encroachments of arbitrary and despotic power. 
Your advocacy of human rights, your devotion to the best interests of 
your beloved country, your labors for her welfare, and your sufferings 
in her behalf, justly commend you to the friends of free institutions 
throughout the world. We rejoice in. this opportunity of tendering to 
you our unfeigned regard, and to your bleeding country our kindest 
sympathy. 

“We welcome you to this consecrated spot, on which was shed the 
19 


218 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


first blood in that glorious struggle which made us a free and prosper¬ 
ous people, and gave us a name among the nations of the earth. But 
these blessings were dearly bought. This green has been trampled by 
a foreign foe. Here our fathers met their oppressors, and this unpre¬ 
tending stone tells the sad story of their fate. In yonder dilapidated 
and humble dwelling our domestic exiles, the proscribed Hancock and 
Adams, sought a retreat, and, like the heroes in Grecian story, con¬ 
sulted the patriot priest on the safety of the commonwealth. 

“ But a brighter day has dawned upon our country ; and some of 
the sainted patriots who passed through those struggles, through that 
wilderness of dangers, and that Bed Sea of blood, are here to-day to 
partake of the blessings of this Canaan of rest. 

“ So may it be with your beloved country ! Though a dark cloud 
overshadows her, its gilded margin betokens a brighter sky, and points 
to the rainbow of promise. Your country must ultimately be free. 
Austria and Bussia may combine against her, but their efforts cannot 
prosper. Let these tyrants rely upon their fortresses and their armies, 
let their legions come up like the locusts of Egypt; but their trust is 
vain. 

‘ God mortifies the pride of human trust, 

And towers and armies levels in the dust.’ 

u I again welcome you to the birth-place of American liberty, and 
to all the hallowed associations which cluster around this place. I 
welcome you to the hearts of this people.” 

KOSSUTH’S SPEECH AT LEXINGTON. 

“ Gentlemen : It has been often my lot to stand upon classical 
ground, where the whispering breeze is fraught with wonderful tales 
of devoted virtue, bright glory, and heroic deeds. And I have sat 
upon ruins of ancient greatness, blackened by the age of centuries ; 
and I saw the living ruins of those ancient times, called men, roaming 
about the sacred ground, unconscious of the very fact that the dust 
which clung to their boots was the relic of departed demigods, and I 
rose with a deep sigh. Those demigods were but men; and the degen¬ 
erated shapes that roamed around me, on the hallowed ground, were 
also not less than men. The decline and fall of nations impressed the 
mark of degradation on nature itself. It is sad to think upon; it lops 
the soaring wings of the mind, and chills the fiery arms of energy. 
But, however dark be the impression of such ruins of vanished great- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


219 


ness upon the mind of men who themselves have experienced the fra¬ 
gility of human fate, thanks to God, there are bright spots yet on 
earth, where the recollections of the past, brightened by present pros¬ 
perity, strengthen the faith in the future of mankind’s de'stiny. Such 
a spot is this. 

“ Gentlemen, should the awful reverence which this spot commands 
allow a modest smile, I would feel inclined to smile at the eager con¬ 
troversy about the question if it be Lexington or Concord where the 
fire of the British was first returned by Americans. Let it be so or 
thus, it will neither increase nor abate the merit of the martyrs who 
fell here. It is their sacrificed blood with which is written the preface 
of your nation’s history; and the names on yonder monument have 
equal claims to immortality, let their owners have been butchered 
martyrs or victims of a battle-field. Their death was, and will always 
be, the first bloody revelation of America’s destiny, and Lexington the 
opening scene of a revolution of which Governor Boutwell was right 
to say, that it is destined to change the character of human govern¬ 
ments and the condition of the human race. 

“ Should the republic of America ever lose the consciousness of this 
destiny, that moment would be just so sure the beginning of Amer¬ 
ica’s decline, as the 19th of April, 1775, was the beginning of the 
republic of America. 

“ Prosperity is not always, gentlemen, a guarantee of the future, if 
it be not accompanied with a constant resolution to obey the call of 
the genius of the time. Nay, material prosperity is often the mark 
of material decline, when it either results in, or is connected with, a 
moral stagnation in the devoted attachment to principles. Borne was 
never richer, never mightier, than under Trajan; and still it had 
already the sting of death in its very heart. 

“ To me, whenever I stand upon such sacred ground as this, the 
spirits of the departed appear like the prophets of future events. The 
language they speak to my heart is the revelation of Providence. 

“ The struggle of America for independence was providential. It 
was a necessity. Those circumstances which superficial consideration 
takes for the motives of your glorious Bevolution have been but acci¬ 
dental opportunities for it. Had those circumstances not occurred, 
others had occurred, and had presented, perhaps, a different opportu¬ 
nity; but the Bevolution would have come. It was a necessity, 
because the colonies of America had attained that lawful age in the 
development of all the elements of national existence, which claims the 


220 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


right to stand by itself, and cannot more be led by a child’s leading- 
strings, be the hand which leads it a mother’s or a step-mother’s hand. 
Circumstances and the connection of events was such, that this una¬ 
voidable emancipation had to pass the violent concussion of severe tri¬ 
als. The immortal glory of your forefathers was, that they did not 
shrink to accept the trial, and were devoted and heroic to sacrifice 
themselves to their country’s destiny. And the monuments you erect 
to their memory, and the religious reverence with which you cherish 
their memory, are indeed well-deserved tributes of gratitude. 

“ But, allow me to say, there is a tribute which those blessed spirits 
are still more fond to claim from you,— the happy inheritance of the 
fruits they have raised for you,— it is the tribute of always remaining 
true to their principle ; and that principle was devotion to the destiny 
of your country, and that destiny is to become the corner-stone of lib¬ 
erty on earth. Empires can be but maintained by the same virtue by 
which they have been founded. 0 ! let me hope that, while the recol¬ 
lections connected with this hallowed ground inspire the heart of the 
wandering exile with consolation, with hope, and with perseverance, in 
the very fact that I have stood here, fraught with the anxious prayers 
and expectations of the Old World’s oppressed millions, you will see 
the finger of God pointing out the appropriate opportunity to act your 
part in America’s destiny, by maintaining the laws of nature and of 
nature’s God, for which your heroes fought and your martyrs died; 
and to regenerate the world, 

* Proclaiming freedom in the name of God,’ 
till, to continue in the beautiful words of your Whittier, 

‘ Its blessings fall. 

Common as dew and sunshine, over all.’ ” 

Upon the platform, Kossuth was presented to Abijah Harrington, 
aged ninety-one, and Amariah Preston, ninety-four, Revolutionary vet¬ 
erans, whom he congratulated on having been engaged in the struggle 
for independence, and expressed the wish that they might be preserved 
still longer, and see the prosperity of their country always increasing, 
and new glories added to her. 

The procession again formed, and took up the line of march for 
Concord. On arriving at the town line, it was met by the reception 
committee, to whom Kossuth was introduced by Hon. E. R. Gour- 
gas. Thence, under the charge of Col. Holbrook, chief mar- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


221 


shal, it proceeded to the “ Hey wood Place, 5 ’ where Adams and Han¬ 
cock slept the night before the battle, and where the Concord Artil¬ 
lery, Captain Wood, were in waiting. After a slight halt, the proces¬ 
sion moved on to the town-house, amidst the ringing of bells, the firing 
of cannon, and the cheers of the multitude. On arriving in front of 
the town-hall, the escort halted, and the carriages containing Kossuth 
and invited guests proceeded to the battle-ground. Over the gateway 
was the inscription, “19th of April, 1775—Birth-day of American 
Liberty. 55 After driving around the monument, they returned to the 
residence of Hon. John S. Keyes, where Kossuth and his companions 
dined. » 

In front of the Unitarian Church were assembled the children of the 
various public schools, under the charge of their teachers, who cheered 
Kossuth as he passed. This assemblage of children was one of the 
prettiest features of the day. 

At half-past four o’clock Kossuth entered the town-hall, which was 
well filled with an audience composed principally of ladies. At the 
entrance he was met by a committee of young ladies from the High 
School, Misses Hosmer, Derby, and Buttrick, who were delegated, in 
behalf of the High School, to present him with a bouquet. Miss 
Hosmer said: 

“ Governor Kossuth : In the name of my associates, the scholars 
of the public schools of Concord, permit me to present you this 
bouquet, as an expression of our love and esteem for you and your 
glorious cause. It is a slight gift; but, as we know the same sunlight 
caused these flowers to bud and blossom, the same breezes fanned them, 
which call forth the flowers of your father-land, we have thought they 
might bring you a pleasant remembrance of home. It may be they 
will give a sad one, too ; for we know that that home is now in the 
hands of the spoiler. But we hope, with all the fervor of young 
hearts, that the time is not far distant when it will be free,— free as 
our own. We would hope that even now we can see, glimmering in 
the orient, the dawn of that happy day which is to bring freedom to 
Hungary, which is to give to her sons and daughters the same rich 
advantages of schools and kindred institutions which we enjoy. 

“Tell us, sir, the descendants of those before whom tyranny first 
turned its back to liberty in the New World (we wish to hear it from 
your own lips), if that time will not soon come? Then, we know, the 
19 * 


222 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


scholars of her schools will rejoice, as we do to-day, to be allowed to 
present a garland to the exile of tyranny from other lands. 

“ Please accept our offering; and may the language of each flower 
bespeak the scholars of Concord friends to yourself, to Hungary, and 
universal liberty! ” 

Kossuth returned his thanks to the fair donor and her associates, and 
passed on. Upon entering the hall, he was received by the audience in 
the most enthusiastic manner. Cheer followed cheer, and it was some 
minutes before the order of exercises could be proceeded with. When 
the cheering had subsided, Hon. J. S. Keyes introduced Ralph Waldo 
Emerson, who, in behalf of his townsmen, addressed Kossuth thus: 

MR. EMERSON’S ADDRESS. 

“ Sir : The fatigues of your many public visits, in such unbroken 
succession as may compare with the toils of a campaign, forbid us to 
detain you long. The people of this town share with their country¬ 
men the admiration of valor and perseverance; they, like their com¬ 
patriots, have been hungry to see the man whose extraordinary elo¬ 
quence is seconded by the splendor and the solidity of his actions. 
But, as it is the privilege of the people of this town to keep a hallowed 
mound which has a place in the story of the country, we knew before¬ 
hand that you would not go by us; you could not take all your steps 
in the pilgrimage of American liberty, until you had seen with your 
eyes the ruins of the little bridge where a handful of brave farmers 
opened our Revolution. Therefore we sat and waited for you. 

“And now, sir, we are heartily glad to see you at last in these 
fields. We set no more value than you do on cheers and huzzas. But 
we think that the graves of our heroes around us throb to-day to a 
footstep that sounded like their own: 

* The mighty tread. 

Brings from the dust the sound of liberty.* 

“ Sir, we have watched with attention your progress through the 
land, and the varying feeling with which you have been received, and 
the unvarying tone and countenance which you have maintained. We 
wish to discriminate in our regard. We wish to reserve our honor for 
actions of the noblest strain. We please ourselves that in you we 
meet with one whose temper was long since tried in the fire, and made 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


223 


equal to all events; a man so truly in love with a glorious fortune, 
that he cannot be diverted to any less. 

“It is our republican doctrine, too, that the wide variety of opin¬ 
ions is an advantage. I believe I may say, of the people of this coun¬ 
try at large, that their sympathy is more worth, because it stands the 
test of party. It is not a blind wave; it is a living soul, contending 
with living souls. It is in every expression antagonized. No opinion 
will pass, but must stand the tug of war. As you see, the love you 
win is worth something, for it has been argued through: its foundation 
searched; it has proved sound and whole; it may be avowed; it will 
last; and it will draw all opinion to itself. 

“We have seen with great pleasure that there is nothing accidental 
in your attitude. We have seen that you are organically in that cause 
you plead. The man of freedom, you are also the man of fate. You 
do not elect, but you are elected by God and your genius to your task. 
We do not, therefore, affect to thank you. We only see in you the 
angel of freedom, crossing sea and land ; crossing parties, nationalities, 
private interests, and self-esteems; dividing populations, where you go, 
and drawing to your part only the good. We are afraid you are 
growing popular, sir; you may be called to the dangers of prosperity. 
But hitherto you have had, in all countries and in all parties, only the 
men of heart. I do not know but you will have the million yet. 
Then, may your strength be equal to your day ! But remember, sir, 
that everything great and excellent in the world is in minorities. 

“ Bar be from us, sir, any tone of patronage ; — we ought rather to 
ask yours. We know the austere condition of liberty, that it must be 
re-conquered over and over again ; yea, day by day, that it is a state of 
war; that it is always slipping from those who boast it to those who 
fight for it; and you, the foremost soldier of freedom, in this age; —it 
is for us to crave your judgment; who are we, that we should dictate 
to you ? You have won your own. We only affirm it. This country 
of working-men greets in you a worker. This republic greets in you 
a republican. We only say, ‘ Well done, good and faithful.’ You 
have earned your own nobility at home. We admit you ad eundem , 
as they say at college; we admit you to the same degree, without new 
trial; we suspend all rules before so paramount a merit. You may 
well sit a doctor in the college of liberty; you have achieved your 
right to interpret our Washington. And I speak the sense, not only 
of every generous American, but the law of mind, when I say that it 
is not those who live idly in the city called after his name, but those 


224 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


who, all over the world, think and act like him, who may claim to 
explain the sentiment of Washington. 

“ Sir, whatever obstruction, from selfishness, indifference, or from 
property,— which always sympathizes with possession,— you may 
encounter, we congratulate you that you have learned how to convert 
calamities into powers, exile into a campaign, present defeat into last¬ 
ing victory. For this new crusade w T hich you preach to willing and 
unwilling ears in America is a seed of armed men. You have got 
your story told in every palace, and log hut, and prairie camp, through¬ 
out this continent. And, as the shores of Europe and America 
approach every month, and their politics will one day mingle, when 
the crisis arrives, it will find us all instructed beforehand in the rights 
and wrongs of Hungary, and parties already to her freedom.” 

Kossuth replied as follows : 

KOSSUTH’S SPEECH AT CONCORD. 

“ I am afraid to speak here. I like to listen to the tale the spirits of 
martyrs tell, and to words like yours, sir [Mr. Emerson], full of 
wisdom and philanthropy. The answer I can give will scarcely pos¬ 
sess the merit to satisfy the American people. One thing I may 
assume, and one thing own,— should the Almighty give me prosperity, 
yet in my life it would not carry me away, not to be frank, not only 
in adversity, but in duty, which is a good guard as well against 
ambition in prosperity as in adversity. One thing I may own,— that 
it is, indeed, true, everything good has yet been in the minority; still 
mankind went on, and is going on, to that destiny the Almighty 
designed, when all good will not be confined to the minority, but will 
prevail amongst all mankind. 

11 1 hail thee, hallowed ground of Concord, thou sacred baptistry, 
where the people of America first baptized itself to the name of a 
‘ nation ’ with its own and its enemies’ blood ! I hail thee, Concord,— 
thou John the Baptist of American Independence ! 1 When invaded 

by oppression, resistance becomes the Christian and social duty of 
each individual.’ Thus spoke the leaders of Massachusetts, when the 
spirit of national freedom first moved through this air which I now 
breathe. It was here that word was bravely redeemed by a people 
transformed into heroes by the charm of liberty. 

“ The leaders swore ‘ never to yield, but, with a proper sense of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


225 


dependence on God, to defend those rights which Heaven gave, and no 
one ought to take.’ It was here that oath first was made good. Be 
thou blessed forever, hallowed ground of Concord! and ye spirits of 
the departed, take up, upon good angelic wings, the prayers of the 
poor wandering exile, who, on the hallowed ground of Concord, invokes 
the young spirit of the Hew World to regenerate the Old! 

“ Gentlemen, remember what had to pass in the Old World, that 
Hungary’s exiled chief thus might be standing on Concord’s hallowed 
ground, and that such prayers fall from his lips from such a place. 
0 , silence for a while the noble pride of your prosperity, and bow with 
reverence before the finger of God ! He is the God of all humanity. 
What he did for you he meant to do for humanity. Concord became 
the preface of liberty in America, that America might become the 
preface of liberty on earth. That is m 3 " faith. I have drawn this 
faith from the philosophy of your history. 

“It is strange, indeed, how every incident of the present bears the 
mark of deeper meaning around me. It is a meaning in the very fact 
that it is you, sir, by whom the representative of Hungary’s ill-fated 
struggle is so generously welcomed, in the name of Concord, to the 
shrine of martyrs illumined by victory. You are wont to dive into the 
mysteries of truth, and disclose mysteries of right to the eyes of men. 

“ Your honored name is Emerson ; and Emerson was the name of 
the man, who, a minister of the gospel, turned out with his people on 
the 19th of April of eternal memory, when the alarm-bell first was 
rung. The words of an Emerson administered counsel and the comfort 
of religion to the distressed then, and the words of an Emerson now 
speak the comfort of philosophy to the cause of oppressed liberty. 

“ I take hold of that augury, sir. Religion and philosophy, you 
blessed twins, — upon you I rely with my hopes to America. 
Religion, the philosophy of the heart, will make the Americans 
generous; and philosophy, the religion of the mind, will make the 
Americans wise; and all that I claim is a generous wisdom and a wise 
generosity. 

“ Gentlemen, it would be evidently a mistake to believe that the 
Revolution of America was the accidental result of circumstances 
which England could have prevented. No, gentlemen, England could 
not have retained possession of this country, except only by transform¬ 
ing herself into a republic, or, at least, into a democratic monarchy. 
That would have been the only means to prevent the separation. 
Those acts of the British Parliament which virtually repealed the 


226 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


charter of Massachusetts, those acts were, indeed, oppressive, arbitrary 
and tyrannical. They would have, in every other portion of the world, 
justified a revolution; but here, in your country, those arbitrary acts of 
the government have been but an opportunity to assert with arms that 
national independence, which, also, without that opportunity, would 
have been asserted,—perhaps, in a different way,— but would have been 
asserted certainly, because it was a necessity; — not only a necessity 
with your own country, gentlemen, but a logical necessity in the 
progress of mankind’s history. The arbitrary acts of the British 
government were a crime ; but not to have understood that necessity, 
and not to have yielded to it by amicable arrangement without sacri¬ 
fices, that was a fai^t. 

11 In my opinion, there is not a single fact in history which would 
have been so distinctly marked to be providential, with reference to all 
humanity, as the colonization, revolution, and republicanism, of the 
now United States of America. 

“ This immense continent being discovered and brought within the 
scope of European civilization, peopled with elements of that civiliza¬ 
tion, could not remain a mere appendix to Europe,— that is evident. 
But this America, being connected as it is with Europe by a thousand 
social, moral and material ties,— by the ties of blood, religion, lan¬ 
guage, science, civilization and commerce,— to me it is equally evi¬ 
dent, that to believe that this so connected America can rest isolated 
in politics from Europe, that would be just such a fault as that was 
that England did not believe in time the necessity of America’s 
independence. 

“ Yes, gentlemen, this is so much true, that I would pledge life, 
honor, and everything dear to man’s heart, and honorable to man’s 
memory, that either America must take its becoming part in the 
political regeneration of Europe, or she herself must yield to the per¬ 
nicious influence of European politics. 

“There was never yet a more fatal mistake than it would be to 
believe that, by not caring about the political condition of Europe, 
America may remain unaffected by the condition of Europe. 

“I could, perhaps, understand such an opinion, if you would or 
could be entirely and in every respect isolated from Europe; but, as 
you are not isolated, as you cannot be, as you cannot even have the 
will to be isolated, because that very will would be a paradox, a logi¬ 
cal absurdity, impossible to be carried out, being contrary to the 
eternal laws of God, which he for nobody’s sake will change, therefore 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


227 


to believe that you can go on to be connected with Europe in a 
thousand respects, and still remain unaffected by its social and political 
condition, would be, indeed, a fatal aberration. 

“You stretch your gigantic hands a thousand-fold every day over 
the waves; your relations with Europe are not only commercial, as with 
Asia,— they are also social, moral, spiritual, intellectual. You take 
Europe every day by the hand; how, then, could you believe that, if 
that hand of Europe, which you grasp every day, remains dirty, you 
can escape from seeing your own hands soiled 7 The more clean your 
hands are, the more will the filth of old Europe stick to them. 
There is no possible means to escape from being soiled, than to help 
us Europeans to wash the hands of our Old World. 

“You have heard, of the ostrich, that, when persecuted by an 
enemy, it is wont to hide its head, leaving its body exposed. It 
believes that, by not regarding it, it will not be seen by the enemy. 
That curious aberration is worthy of reflection. It is typical. 

“Yes, gentlemen, either America will regenerate the condition of 
the Old World, or it will be degenerated by the condition of the Old 
World. 

“ Sir, I implore you [Mr. Emerson] give me the aid of your philo¬ 
sophical analysis, to impress the conviction upon the public mind of 
your nation that the Revolution, to which Concord was the preface, is 
full of a higher destiny,— of a destiny broad as the world, broad as 
humanity itself. 

“ Let me entreat you to apply the analytic powers of your pene¬ 
trating intellect to disclose the character of the American Revolution, 
as you disclose the character of self-reliance, of spiritual laws, of intel¬ 
lect, of nature, or of politics : lend the authority of your judgment to 
the truth that the destiny of the American Revolution is not yet fulfilled; 
that the task is not yet completed; that to stop half way is worse 
than would have been not to stir; repeat those words of deep meaning 
which once you wrote about the monsters that looked backward, and 
about the walking with reverted eye, while the voice of the Almighty 
says 1 Up and onward forevermore/ and while the instinct of your 
people, which never fails to be right, answered the call of destiny by 
taking for its motto the word “ahead.” 

“ Indeed, gentlemen, the monuments you raised to the heroic mar¬ 
tyrs who fertilized with their heart’s blood the soil of liberty, these 
monuments are a fair tribute of well-deserved gratitude, gratifying to 
the spirits who are hovering around us, and honorable to you. Woe to 


228 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the people which neglected to honor its great and good men! but, believe 
me, gentlemen, those blest spirits would look down with saddened 
brows to this free and happy land, if ever they were doomed to see 
that the happy inheritors of their martyrdom had the pretension to 
believe that the destiny to which that sacred martyr blood was sacri¬ 
ficed is accomplished, and its price fully paid, in the already achieved 
results, because the living generation dwells comfortably and makes 
two dollars out of one. 

“ No, gentlemen, the stars on the sky have a higher aim than that 
to illumine the night-path of some lonely wanderer. The course your 
nation is called to run is not yet half performed. Mind the fable of 
Atalanta: it was a golden apple thrown into her way which made her 
fall short in her race. 

1 ‘Two things I have met here, in these free and mighty United 
States, which I am at a loss how to make concord. The two things I 
cannot concord are: — First, that all your historians, all your states¬ 
men, all your distinguished orators, who wrote or spoke, characterize 
it as an era in mankind’s destiny destined to change the condition of 
the world, upon which it will rain an ever-flowing influence. And, 
secondly, in contradiction to this universally adopted consideration, I 
have met in many quarters a propensity to believe that it is conserva¬ 
tive wisdom not to take any active part in the regulation of the con¬ 
dition of the outward world. 

“These two things do not concord. If that be the destiny of 
America which you all believe to be, then, indeed, that destiny can 
never be fulfilled by acting the part of passive spectators, and by this 
very passivity granting a charter to ambitious Czars to dispose of the 
condition of the world. 

“ I have met distinguished men trusting so much to the operative 
power of your institutions and of your example, that they really believe 
they will make their way throughout the world merely by their moral 
influence. But there is one thing those gentlemen have disregarded, 
in their philanthropic reliance; and that is, that the ray of sun never 
yet made its way, by itself, through well-closed shutters and doors; 
they must be drawn open, that the blessed rays of the sun may get in. 
I have never yet heard of a despot who had yielded to the moral influ¬ 
ence of liberty. The ground of Concord itself is an evidence of it; the 
doors and shutters of oppression must be opened by bayonets, that 
the blessed rays of your institutions may penetrate into the dark dwell¬ 
ing-house of oppressed humanity. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


229 


“ Allow me, gentlemen, to make the remark, that there is no word 
so much abused as the word Conservatism. I have known children, 
who have got a hole in their coats, put their fingers in it to make it 
more large. Well, they conserved the hole. If that be conservatism, 
then I will not dispute that the policy of not caring about the condition 
of the world is conservative; but the conservation of a hole I am 
inclined to style, not conservatism, but indeed a very destructive policy. 

“ I have spoken, gentlemen, about the high destiny of the American 
Revolution, a work not yet finished, because once more, sir [Mr. 
Emerson], ‘up and onward forevermore’ is the word of the Almighty 
God. Progress is life; stagnation is death. And I may be excused 
for taking that elevated position for the prospects of America’s destiny. 

11 1 am an exile of the Old World, fraught with the hopes and expect¬ 
ations of oppressed millions. I may be excused for looking anxiously 
into the mysteries of your national existence, if I could not find out 
there a flower of consolation to my poor native land, well deserving a 
better fate. 

“ But let me forsake that elevated position, and step down lower to 
the standing-place of your own national interests, of your own Ameri¬ 
can policy. Even thus, I hope nobody will contradict me, that in the 
life of a nation there are different periods equally necessary, of equally 
vital importance, if that nation desires to live. And it is but necessary 
to open their eyes, and to look to the condition of your glorious land, to 
become aware that now there is such a necessity for your future to be 
a power on earth, as it was necessary in 1775 to make a revolution, 
and to become independent and free. 

“And I must say it, even at the risk of offending your national 
pride, that you are not yet a power on earth; and you will be no 
power on earth so long as you permit other powers to dispose of the 
laws of nations, and of the common interests of all humanity. 

“ And by not becoming a power on earth, when it is a necessity to 
do so, you lose, you must lose, the glorious position you hold; because, 
as you well may see, the other powers of the earth dispose of the 
world’s condition in a direction antagonistical to your interests,— in a 
direction in which your principles lose ground on earth, instead of 
gaining ground, as you should. 

“ There are men who believe the position of a power on earth will 
come to you by itself; but 0 ! do not trust to this fallacy! A position 
never comes by itself; it must be taken, and taken it never will be by 
passivity. 


20 


230 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“ The martyrs who have hallowed by their blood the ground of 
Concord trusted themselves, and occupfed the place Divine Providence 
assigned them. Sir, the words are yours which I quote. You have 
told your, people that they are now men, and must accept in the high¬ 
est mind the same destiny; — that they are not minors and invalids in 
a protected corner; but guides, redeemers and benefactors, advancing 
on chaos and on the dark. 

“ I pray God to give your people the sentiment of the truth you 
have taught. 

“ Your people, fond of its prosperity, loves peace. Well, who would 
not love peace ? But allow me again, sir, to repeat, with all possible 
emphasis, the great w T ords you spoke, ‘ Nothing can bring you peace 
but a triumph of principles.’ 

“ The people of America’s instinct is with my prayers. It is with 
me once more your words, sir, ‘ What your heart thinks great is 
great.’ The soul’s emphasis is always right. 

“ To this I will trust; and, reminding you of the fact that in the 
soil of Concord the ashes of your martyrs are mingled in concord with 
the ashes of your enemies, and out of both liberty has grown, I 
say let this be an augury. Let the future be regulated, not by long 
past disinclinations, but by present necessities; not by anticipations of 
olden times, but by sympathies congenial to the present times; and let 
the word ‘ Concord ’ be. an augury to that fraternity amongst nations 
which will make the world free, and your nation the first and the 
greatest among the free.” 

At the conclusipn of Kossuth’s speech, the procession formed, and 
escorted him to the depot, where a decorated car, furnished by the 
Fitchburg Railroad Company expressly for the occasion, was in wait¬ 
ing. At a few minutes past six, amidst the hearty cheers of the mul¬ 
titude, he took his departure for Boston. 

The day was fine, and, with the exception of the dust, was all that 
could have been desired. All the arrangements for Kossuth’s visit 
were made with great skill and judgment, and were admirably carried 
out by the various gentlemen who were appointed to execute them. 
Their completeness was the subject of general remark and commend¬ 
ation. 

The Concord committee was composed of John S. Keyes, G. R. 
Hoar, Francis R. Gourgas, Joseph Holbrook, Jacob B. Farmer, 
Addison G. Fay, Asa Brook, Lowell Fay, A. C. Damon, John Brown, 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


231 


Jr., Francis A. Wheeler, Nathan Barrett, Samuel Staples, Wm. W. 
Whieldon, Nathan B. Stowe, and George M. Brooks. Mr. Holbrook 
was chief marshal. 

11 The route,” says the Commonwealth, “ was along an interesting 
battle-ground, enlivened with many thousands of people, and hundreds 
of flags and streamers floating from beautiful houses and trees that 
were just putting on their fresh spring dress. The whole journey, 
considering its shortness, the places visited, and the circumstances 
attending it, was one of the most interesting ever made.” 


KOSSUTH IN PLYMOUTH. 


By a public meeting of the citizens of Plymouth, Governor Kossuth 
was invited to visit that ancient town, and the following committee of 
arrangements appointed: 

Captain John Bussell, chairman; M. Bates, Jr., E. C. Sherman, 
Daniel J. Lane, John D. Churchill, Jacob H. Loud, Charles 0. 
Churchill, B. H. Holmes, George Harlow, Atwood L. Drew, John 
E. Churchill, William T. Drew, Wm. H. Nelson, Edmund Bobbins, 
Daniel J. Bobbins, W. S. Macomber, Aaron Cornish, Bobert Cowen, 
Andrew L. Bussell, and Samuel H. Doten. 

Wednesday morning, May 12, a sub-committee went to Boston to 
accompany Kossuth from thence to Plymouth. It had been announced 
that Kossuth would start from Boston at ten o’clock A. M., and accord¬ 
ingly vast crowds assembled at the various stopping places along the 
line of the railroad, in hopes of seeing, if not hearing him. But, from 
some mistake in the notice that was sent to him, Kossuth was led to 
suppose that the hour of departure was one o’clock ; and he found it 
impossible to get ready at ten, the hour designated. At a quarter 
before one, however, he set out from Boston, in a car which had been 
splendidly decorated for the occasion by the officers of the Old Colony 
Bailroad. He was accompanied by Captains Kalapsza and Greschenek, 
M. Pulszky, Maj. Hajnik, Mr. Coggshall, the reporter of the N. Y. 
Tribune, and by Messrs. Alden, Torrey, and Church, of the Senate, and 
Thomas, of the House, on the part of the state committee; his Excel¬ 
lency, Governor Boutwell, and Hon. G. B. Weston of the Executive 
Council, Judge Bussell, and a few other invited guests of the commit¬ 
tee ; H. W. Nelson, Esq., the superintendent, and A. Holmes, Esq., 
one of the directors, of the railroad, and by various reporters of the 
Boston press. 

The train reached Plymouth at twenty minutes before two. It had 
rained heavily all the morning, notwithstanding which a vast concourse 
of people had been, for several hours, waiting Kossuth’s arrival at the 
railroad station. On alighting from the cars, Kossuth was introduced, 
by the member of the committee who had accompanied him from Bos¬ 
ton, to Captain J. Bussell, who addressed him thus : 

4 ‘Governor Kossuth: In behalf of the inhabitants of Plymouth, 
I bid you a hearty welcome to the land of the Pilgrims, the home of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


233 


our fathers, whose history bears in many points a strong resemblance 
to your own. Like them, you have perilled all that is dear for great 
principles. Like them, you have struggled, suffered and encountered 
merciless, and, I may add, savage foes. Like them, through fearful 
trials, you have held fast to liberty and religion. May it please Heaven* 
to complete the parallel, and crown your labors with a harvest as rich 
as we are now reaping from theirs ! 

u We invite you to visit with us, if you please, grounds watered by 
their tears, and hallowed by their prayers.” 

Kossuth responded in a very few words, after which Governor 
Boutwell was introduced, and the guests were conducted to the Sam- 
oset House. 

After a few minutes’ social intercourse, the visiters were reconducted 
to the carriages, and proceeded to Pilgrim Hall, where a procession was 
formed, under the direction of John D. Churchill, chief marshal, and 
aids, which, under the escort of the Standish Guards, Capt. Churchill, 
proceeded through Court and North streets to “ Plymouth Rock,” 
where the procession halted a sufficient time to allow Kossuth to stand 
on the spot hallowed by the footsteps of the Pilgrims in 1620, and 
then proceeded to the Gothic church, which had been partially filled 
by bond-holders. It being evident, from the inclemency of the 
weather, that an address in the open air was out of the question, Kos¬ 
suth requested to have the doors opened, when, in a very few minutes, 
the church was crowded to its utmost capacity. 

After a voluntary from the organ, and a performance by the choir 
of a portion of Mrs. Hemans’ ode, “ The breaking waves dashed high,” 
&c., the meeting was opened by prayer from Rev. Charles S. Porter, 
after which Governor Kossuth was welcomed to the landing-place of 
the Pilgrims by the venerable James Kendall, D. D., who for fifty- 
four years has been settled as a minister at Plymouth. 

dr. kendall’s address of welcome. 

“ Governor Kossuth : In the name and in behalf of the inhab¬ 
itants of Plymouth, I give you a sincere and cordial welcome to the 
1 Landing-place of the Pilgrims.’ Most that is interesting to a stranger 
on this memorable spot are its associations. 

“ It is the ground, as you know, first trodden and primarily occu¬ 
pied by our Pilgrim Fathers, after reaching the shores of this western 
20 * 


234 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


continent. A few choice spirits they were, — exiles, like yourself, 
from oppression and persecution, and in search of freedom, and liberty 
to worship God according to their understanding of the sacred Scrip¬ 
tures. 

“ As you pass through the streets of this ancient town, and are 
pointed to some of its interesting localities,— recollecting that here are 
the footsteps of that noble band of illustrious men, who, a little more 
than two hundred and thirty years ago, laid the foundation of freedom 
and a vast republic in this New World, — you will feel, as the friends 
of liberty have felt before you, that you are treading on holy ground; 
ground hallowed by the prayers of holy men, and consecrated by being 
the resting-place of their precious remains, while their immortal spirits 
are reaping the reward of their toils and sacrifices in the paradise of 
God. A choice vine, planted by the hands of a few wandering pilgrims, 
and nurtured by their prayers and their tears, under the smiles of 
Heaven took deep root, and has grown and spread, shooting out its 
branches from river to river, and from sea to sea, until, lo ! it hath 
filled the land. 

“These are some of the considerations that will render your short 
visit to Plymouth, we hope, of some interest to you. Besides, you 
will be introduced to some of the direct descendants, bearing the name, 
and, we trust, inheriting something of the spirit, of a pious ancestry, — 
at least, their love of civil and religious freedom, and their determi¬ 
nation, God helping them, to 1 stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ 
hath made them free ; and not to be entangled again in the yoke of 
bondage.’ 

“ But we welcome you to this memorable landing-place of the Pil¬ 
grims for other reasons, also. It is because of the deep interest we 
have felt in your person, character and enterprise. We have sympa¬ 
thized in the disappointments and misfortunes of your oppressed and 
down-trodden country. We have followed you with deep solicitude 
and increased interest in your banishment, your imprisonment, your 
exile and wanderings from country to country, and from sea to sea, 
until your safe arrival on these American shores. We have partici¬ 
pated in the pleasure which your presence and your thrilling words 
have everywhere produced, and the cordial greetings with which they 
have been received. But, more than all, as the descendants of a pious 
ancestry, we have admired and sympathized most deeply with the 
religious element in your character, which has been everywhere and 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


235 


on all occasions manifested, so far as your history has been made 
known to us. 

“ It is not, permit me to say, sir, your patriotism, your love of 
country, merely,— though ready and willing to lay down your life for 
her,— that has excited the greatest interest, and awakened the deepest 
sympathy in our hearts ; however noble and praiseworthy this trait in 
your character, it is not this alone which we most admire and venerate, 
and which has made the deepest impression upon us. Neither is it 
your philanthropy, your love of the race, alone, and your desire for. 
universal freedom, that has awakened all this interest in the religious 
community; but it is, I repeat, the religious element in your char¬ 
acter, which lies deeper than all else, that has kindled such general 
sympathy, not only in our own hearts, but in the hearts of the Amer¬ 
ican people. It is principle that led you to prefer imprisonment to 
Mahometanism; banishment, with Christianity in your heart, to free¬ 
dom, purchased by the sacrifice of your religious faith. 

“ It is your profound reverence, your constant and devout acknowl¬ 
edgment of the Universal Father, and your unwavering confidence in 
his ever-guardian providence, which never suffers the righteous to he 
forsaken, but who, in his own good time, makes bare his arm for their 
deliverance, breaks the yoke of the oppressor, and lets the oppressed 
go free. 

“ It is this religious element more than all else, we believe, that has 
sustained you during your sojourn in this country, under the pressure 
of unequalled intellectual labor; given power and pathos to your elo¬ 
quence, and bound you, as with cords of steel, to the heart of the 
American people. The preservation of your health and your fife, 
under the pressure of so much care and toil, and exposed to so many 
perils, is an indication of the favor of a kind and ever-guardian provi¬ 
dence, which listens to the cry of the raven, and bears up the falling 
sparrow. 

“ Our sincere desire and fervent prayer is, that the same guardian 
providence may still attend you, and that in the future you may real¬ 
ize the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy, £ When thou passest through 
the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not 
overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not 
be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee ; for I am the Lord 
thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. Thou hast been hon¬ 
orable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee, and 
people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee.’ ” 


236 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


To this address Kossuth made a short, but very appropriate and 
characteristic reply, which was loudly cheered by the audience. He 
then delivered the following speech : 

KOSSUTH’S SPEECH AT PLYMOUTH. 

“ Gentlemen : It is said that a poor little bird, having a grain of 
seed in his bill, was wafted by the current of the gale over the waves 
to a new part of the globe, a barren desert yet, lately risen from the 
hidden depth where the mysterious work of creation is still going on. 
The grain of seed fell from the bill of the bird, and out of that grain a 
new creation was born. An ocean of halm, the children of that soli¬ 
tary grain, undulates over the blooming prairie, bowing in adoration 
before nature’s God; and millions of flowers send the sacrifice of their 
fragrance up to the Almighty’s throne. 

“ If I had to stand on the spot where that grain of seed fell from 
the beak of the bird, with the blooming prairie spreading before my 
eyes, boundless like eternity, I could not feel more awe than here, on 
this hallowed spot, the most striking evidence of the most wonderful 
operation of Divine Providence. 

“Every object which meets my eye, the very echo of my steps, is 
fraught with the most wonderful tale which ever found its way to the 
heart of men. 

“You all,— you are wont to stand on this spot; you are wont to 
walk on this hallowed ground; the ocean’s breeze, which your ears 
catch, to you it is not fraught with woful sighs from a bleeding 
home; and still I see the lustre of religious awe in your eye3, and I 
hear your hearts throb with uncommon emotion of pious sentiments. 
What, then, must I feel on this spot ? What must I hear in the voice 
of the breeze, where the spirits of departed Pilgrims melt their whispers 
with the sighs of my oppressed father-land 7 

“I am not here, gentlemen, to retell the Pilgrim Fathers’ tale; I 
have to learn about it from your particulars, which historians neglect, 
but the people’s heart by pious tradition likes to conserve. Neither am 
I here to tell how happy you are ; — that, you feel. Pointed- by that 
sentiment which instinctively rises in the heart of happy good men at the 
view of foreign misfortune, you invited me to this sacred spot, desiring 
to pour in my sad heart the consoling inspiration flowing from this 
place, and to strengthen me in the trust to God. I thank you for it; 
it does good to my heart. The very air which I here respire, though 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


287 


to me sad, because fresh with the sorrows of Europe and with the woes 
of my native land, that very air is a balm to the bleeding wounds of 
my soul; it relieves like as the tears relieve the oppressed heart. But 
this spot is a book of history. A book not written by man, but by the 
Almighty himself, — a leaf out of the records of destiny, sent to 
earth, and illumined by the light of heavenly intellect, that men and 
nations, reading in that book of life the bountiful intentions of the 
Almighty God, may learn the duties they are expected to fulfil, and 
cannot neglect to fulfil without offending those intentions with which 
the Almighty ruler of human destinies has worked the wonders of 
which Plymouth Rock is the cradle-place. I feel like Moses when he 
stood on Mount Nebo, in the mountains of Abarem, looking over the 
billows. I see afar the Canaan of mankind’s liberty. I would the 
people of your great republic would look to Plymouth Rock as to a 
new Sinai, where the Almighty legislator revealed what he expects 
your nation to do and not do unto her neighbors, by revealing to her 
free America’s destiny. 

u Who would have thought, gentlemen, that the modest vessel which 
two hundred and thirty-two years ago landed the handful of Pilgrims 
on Plymouth Rock was fraught with the palladium of liberty, and with 
the elements of a power destined to regenerate the world ? ) 

u Oppression drove them from their ancient European home to the 
wilderness of an unknown world; the Mayflower developed into a 
wonderful tree of liberty. Where the wilderness stood, there now a 
mighty Christian nation stands, unequalled in general intelligence and 
in general prosperity, a glorious evidence of mankind’s capacity to 
self-government; and ye, happy sons of those Pilgrim Fathers, it 
became your glorious destiny to send back an enchanted twig from 
your tree of freedom to the Old World, thus requiting the oppression 
which drove away your forefathers from it. Is the time come for it 7 
Yes, it is. That which is a benefit to the world is a condition of your 
own security. 

“ While the tree of freedom which the Pilgrims planted grew so high 
that one twig of it may revive a world, in Europe, by a strange con¬ 
tradiction, another tree has grown in the same time, — the tree of evil 
and of despotism. It is Russia. Both have grown so large that there 
is no place more for them both on earth. One must be lopped, that 
the other may still spread. 

11 And while the tree of good here, and the tree of evil there, have 
thus grown, my nation, a handful of braves, a foreign race from far 


238 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Asia, transplanted to Europe a thousand years ago,— not kindred to 
you, not kindred to any European race, hut guarding in its bosom, 
through all vicissitudes of time, a spark from that fire which led your 
Pilgrim Fathers to America’s shores,— my nation stood in the very 
neighborhood of the tree of evil, a modest shrub, bearing up through 
centuries against the blasting winds encroaching upon the fields of 
Christianity and of Christian civilization. Beaten continually by 
these blasting winds, it could not grow; but it stood firmly in its place, 
and checked their course. It was the emblem of resistance. 

“ The wind has shifted. Russian despotism threatens the Christian 
world, and it is again the shrub of my nation which has to check 
the gale. 0, dear shrub of my dear native land ! thy leaves are 
yellow and thy branches are torn; but the roots still hold firm, and 
the stock of the* people is sound, and the soil which nursed that shrub 
for a thousand years is still full of life. Undaunted courage, unfal¬ 
tering resolution, undesponding confidence, nurses the roots. 

“ Now, what is it I claim from you, people of America,— ye powerful 
swarm from the bee-hive Europe, ye sons of the Pilgrims,— those 
Christian Deucalions, who peopled this New World, and founded 
a nation in seeking but the asylum of a new home ? 

“ What is it I claim from you, people of America ? Is it that you 
should send over yonder Atlantic a fleet of new Mayflowers, manned 
with thousands of Miles Standishes? Claim I the sword of that 
brave chieftain, as the people of Weymouth , the Wessagusens of old, 
claimed it once from the Pilgrim Fathers,— that, as he once did for 
them, you may do for my people, brandishing its brave ‘ Damascus 
blade’ against the Indians of despotism, more dangerous to man¬ 
kind’s liberty — that common property of which you have the fairest 
share — than in those olden times the Indians of Cape Cod have been 
dangerous to the handful of Pilgrims, reduced by sickness to half 
their number, that they may multiply into millions? Is it that 
which I claim, in the name of mankind’s great family, of which you 
are a mighty, full-grown son ? No, I claim not this. 

“ Do I claim from you to send over your sons to Hungary’s border 
mountains, to make a living fence by their breasts, catching up the 
blasting wind of Russia, that it may not fall upon the poor,'leaf-torn 
shrub of Hungary ? No, I claim not this. 

“ Or do I claim from you to beat back the bloody hand of the 
Austrian, that he may not waste the tempest-torn shrub, and not drain 
the life-sweat of its nursing soil ? 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


239 


“ No, I do not claim that. 

What is it, then, I claim from America? That same violence which 
shattered Hungary’s bush has loosened, has bent, has nearly broken, 
the pole called law of nations; without which no right is safe, and 
no nation sure,— none, were it even ten times so mighty as yours. 
I claim from America that it should fasten and make firm that pole 
called ‘ law of nations ,’ that we may with the nerve-strings of our 
own stout hearts bind to it our nation’s shattered shrub. 

“ That is what I claim. And I ask you, in the name of the 
Almighty, is it too pretentious, is it too much arrogance, to claim so 
much ? 

“ ‘In the law of nations every nation is just so much interested 
as every citizen in the laws of his country.’ That is a wise word; 
it is the word of Mr. Webster, who, I am sure of it, in the high posi¬ 
tion he holds, intrusted with your country’s foreign policy, would 
readily make good his own word, if only his sovereign, the nation, 
be decided to back it, and says to him 1 Go on .’ 

“Well, that maintenance of the law of nations would be, indeed, 
am immense benefit to my country,— an immense benefit to all 
oppressed nations,— because there is scarcely one amongst them all 
(Russia, perhaps, excepted) which very easily could not get rid of its 
own domestic oppressor, if only the infernal bug-bear 1 interference ’ 
stood not in the rear, ready to support every oppressor against the 
oppressed; — but, I ask, is it an arrogance to claim an international 
duty, when that duty would be a f benefit to our poor selves ? 

“ To whom shall the oppressed turn for the protection of law and 
of right, if not to those who have the power to protect that law and 
that right, upon which their own power, their own existence, rests ? 

“ Turn to God, and trust to him, you say. Well, that we do. 
The Lord is our chief trust; but, precisely because we trust to God, 
we look around with confidence for the instrumentality of this pro¬ 
tection. 

“And who shall be that instrumentality, if not you, people of 
America, for whom God has worked an evident wonder out, and 
upon this very place where I stand ? 

“We may well praise the dignity of Carver and Bradford, the 
bravery of Standish, the devotion of Brewster, the enterprising spirit 
of Allerton, the unexampled fortitude and resignation of their women, 
the patience of their boys, the firmness, thoughtfulness, religious faith 
and confident boldness, of all the Pilgrims of the Mayflower; we may 


240 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


well praise that all; no praise is too high and none undeserved; but, 
after all, we must confess that the wonderful results of their pil¬ 
grimage,— the nation which we see here,— that is not their merit, 
as it could never have been the anticipation of their thoughts. No, 
that is no human merit; that is an evident miracle,— the work of God. 

“ What have they been, those Pilgrims of those days ? What was 
their resolution, their aim, their design? Let me answer in the 
eloquent words of Mr. Webster’s last centennial address: £ They 
have been the personification of humble and peaceable religion flying 
from causeless oppression, conscience attempting to escape from 
arbitrary rule, braving a thousand dangers to find here — what ? A 
place of refuge and of rest.’ 

“ And what is it they have founded here? A mighty nation, of 
twenty-four millions, in the short period of two hundred and thirty- 
two years. Well, that has never entered the thoughts of the boldest 
of them. 

“ The revolution of 1775 was no miracle; it was a necessity, an 
indication of your people’s having come to the lawful age of a nation. 
Your assuming now the position of a power on earth, as I hope you 
will,— that will again be no miracle. It would be wisdom, but the 
wisdom of doing what is good to humanity and necessary to your¬ 
selves. But, the United States of America,— a result of the Pil¬ 
grim Bathers’ landing on Plymouth’s Rock,— that is no wisdom, no 
necessity; it is an evident miracle, a work of God. 

“ And believe me, gentlemen, the Almighty God never deviates 
from the common laws of eternity for particular purposes; he never 
makes a miracle but for the benefit of all the world. By that truth 
the destiny of America is appointed out, and every destiny implies a 
duty to fulfill 

“ Happy the people which has the wisdom of its destiny and the 
resolution of its duties resulting therefrom. But woe to the people 
which takes not the place which Providence does appoint to it. 
With the intentions of Providence, and with the decrees of the 
Almighty, no man can dare to play. Self-reliance is a manly virtue, 
and no nation has a future which has not that virtue; but to believe 
that seventy-five years of prodigious growth dispense of every danger 
and of every care,—that would be the surest way to provoke danger, 
and to have much to care. 

“ You will judge by this, gentlemen, if it was too much boldness on 
my part to believe that it is your country’s destiny to regenerate the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


241 


world by maintaining the laws of nations, or too much boldness to 
claim that which I believe is your destiny. 

11 One humble prayer more I have; but that is addressed to your 
private generosity. When Weston’s company of Weymouth was 
threatened by Indians, the Pilgrim Colony of Plymouth supplied them 
with provisions, though they themselves could boast but of a very 
scanty store. Now the stores of your national prosperity are full of 
countless treasures, and of boundless wealth. I ask out of your abund¬ 
ance a poor alms to my poor country; just so much as to buy with it - 
a good rope, strong enough to fasten the shattered shrub of my coun¬ 
try to the protecting pole of national law, and to buy a good battle-axe 
to beat off the hands of the tyrant from tearing to pieces the poor, 
shattered shrub. 

11 And here let me end. I am out-worn; my mind has lost the 
freshness of ideas,— only the old sorrows and old cares will neither be 
tired out nor go asleep. That is bad inspiration to oratory; but I 
will bear it, and go on in my duty, and hope good success; and will 
end with the words of that eloquent orator, who interpreted your 
people’s wishes and sentiments at the second centennial anniversary of 
the day when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth: ‘May the star- 
spangled banner rise up as high as heaven, till it shall fan the air of 
both continents, and wave as a glorious ensign of peace and security 
to all nations.’ ” 

At the conclusion of this speech, the procession formed again, and 
proceeded to the Samoset House, where a banquet had been prepared 
for Kossuth and his companions, and many invited guests. 

After justice had been done to the viands, Captain Russell, the 
president of the day, addressed the guests as follows: 

“ It has so happened, gentlemen, that our townsmen, — a little singu¬ 
lar, perhaps, in their taste,— instead of selecting a gentleman from the 
learned professions as chairman of their committee, have chosen to pre¬ 
sent you with a very indifferent specimen of the ancient mariner, as he 
was in the last century. You may justly infer, from the position 
which I hold to-day, that our class has quite as much boldness as 
judgment. 

“ It is our custom, gentlemen, when sailing on unfamiliar seas, to 
consult with great care our charts and navigation-books. But it is 
vain to appeal to them now; they cannot help me to latitude or longi- 
21 


242 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


tude; their sines and cosines, their angles and triangles, are all useless 
here; but I see around me many experienced pilots and kind friends, 
whose faces promise aid and indulgence. 

“ Gentlemen, for the present I will merely glance at a subject which 
deeply interests us all. A few years since, the country of our illustri¬ 
ous guest was but little known to most of us. When she struck for 
freedom, we all felt that the blow was for mankind. Millions of hearts 
in our Union beat with instinctive sympathy in such a cause. We all 
know why that heroic people failed; and we know, too, that if our own 
country had been as near them geographically as we are in princi¬ 
ples and feelings, there would have been more than one intervention 
ere the struggle had so unfortunately closed.” 

M. Bates, Jr., was then introduced by the president as toast-master 
for the occasion, and announced the first regular toast: 

“ The President of the United States.” 

In the absence of a distinguished citizen who was expected to be 
present, there was no response to this national sentiment. 

The following was then announced as the second regular toast: 

t£ Massachusetts: When a dependent colony, with a governor 
assigned to her by the mother country, she was the first to resist an 
aggression upon her own rights; as one of a glorious confederacy of 
independent states, with a governor elected by the people, may she be 
the last to deny the rights of Hungary.” 

His Excellency George S. Boutwell, Governor of the Commonwealth, 
was introduced by the president, and was enthusiastically received by 
the company. He responded to the sentiment in a short speech, urg¬ 
ing the duty of expressing an opinion on the question of Hungarian 
freedom. The company manifested their hearty approbation of the 
governor’s views. 

The following was then announced as the third regular toast: 

Ci Governor Louis Kossuth: The children of Pilgrim-exiles greet hi m 
as an exile for liberty; may the God who guided the Mayflower to our 
shores guide his country to independence.” 

Governor Kossuth responded to this sentiment, thanking the citizens 
of Plymouth for the opportunity which had been afforded him to visit 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


243 


this spot, consecrated to liberty by the landing of the Pilgrims on our 
shores, and alluded to the parallel between his country and our own 
in a very feeling and impressive manner. 

The president then announced the fourth regular toast: 

“DanielWebster: His letter to Hulseman conveyed material aid to 
Hungary; — 1 one blast upon his bugle-horn was worth a thousand 
men.’ ” 

Mr. Webster was still suffering from the effects of injuries received 
by being thrown from his carriage, not long before, and was conse¬ 
quently unable to attend the banquet. In reply to the invitation of 
the committee of arrangements, he sent a long letter, which was read 
as a response to this toast. Here is the correspondence: 

Plymouth , Mass., May 10 th, 1852. 
Hon. Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass. 

Dear Sir : The undersigned have been appointed a committee, in 
behalf of the citizens of Plymouth, to invite you to visit our town on 
Wednesday the 12th inst., on which occasion Governor Kossuth is 
expected to visit Plymouth, to view a spot so closely identified with 
the establishment of political and religious freedom as “Plymouth 
Rock.” 

Should you have sufficiently recovered from the accident which we 
regret to learn has recently occurred to you in our vicinity, we hope 
to enjoy a visit from you on the occasion referred to, trusting that 
while the descendants of the Pilgrims extend the hand of welcome to 
an exile zealously devoted to perpetuating the principle of liberty in 
his own beloved Hungary, they may also be afforded the pleasure of 
paying a tribute of respect to one of our own distinguished statesmen, 
who has devoted so large a portion of his life to the service of his 
country. 

With sentiments of the highest regard, and our best wishes for your 
future health, prosperity and happiness, 

We have the honor to be, most respectfully, 

Your friends and fellow-citizens, 

John Russell, 

A. L. Russell, 

E. C. Sherman, 

M. Bates, Jr. 


244 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Marshfield , May 10, 1852. 

Gentlemen : I had the honor to receive, this morning, your very 
respectful and kind invitation, in behalf of the citizens of Plymouth, 
to meet them on Wednesday, on the occasion of the visit of Governor 
Kossuth to your ancient and distinguished town. I regret to say 
that the accident to which you refer, though not likely to be attended 
by permanent evil consequences, Tvas yet such as will necessarily 
oblige me to remain at home for some days to come. 

Your guest is an exile, who has fled from his native land in con¬ 
sequence of the results of political struggles. As such, he has been 
received in this country by the constituted authorities of the general 
government, and many of the state governments, as well as by large 
masses of the people, in those parts of the country which he has visited. 
It is no doubt true, as you suggest, that he must feel strong emotions 
while standing on the spot where our Pilgrim Fathers landed. They, 
too, were exiles, having left their homes and all that was dear to them, 
in their native land, that they might enjoy, on an unknown shore, and 
in the midst of a savage wilderness, the blessings of religious liberty, 
and mild and free institutions of civil government. The landing itself, 
connected with its object, and the circumstances accompanying it, will 
not fail to excite his sympathies and sensibilities; and the results which 
have flowed from it, in the course of the two hundred and thirty years 
which have since gone by, will be sure to engage his regard and admi¬ 
ration ; and his mind, ardent and enthusiastic as it is, may yet well 
stagger under his view of the future, if he shall allow his thoughts to 
wing their flight into the midst of ages and ages yet to come. 

Nothing human can be absolutely certain of long continuance; 
but if we, and those who shall come after us, from generation to gen¬ 
eration, shall maintain the leading principles upon which our institu¬ 
tions are founded, and according to which the government has been 
administered from our earliest days, we may hope for as much pros¬ 
perity of our political blessings as may fall to the lot of man. The 
first of these main principles undoubtedly is, the maintenance of public 
liberty and equal rights, and entire liberty of religious opinions, under 
a well-defined constitution of civil government. And, as essential to 
the maintenance of such government, under the circumstances in 
which the constitution of the United States was formed, and which 
still exist, there must be an abiding and unwavering attachment to the 
Union of the States, accompanied always by a cautious and conscien¬ 
tious regard for all the rights reserved and secured to those states by 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


245 


the constitution itself. Providence has placed this country in a politi¬ 
cal condition in "which both liberty and union are absolutely necessary 
for its happiness, and in which it is difficult to imagine how either 
could subsist alone. A distinguished personage of antiquity said that 
the "world could not bear two suns; but in our political hemisphere it 
appears to me that clouds and darkness would settle upon us the 
moment we should cease to enjoy the united light of the two mild, 
beneficent, brilliant and glorious orbs, of Liberty and Union. 

Another great principle upon which our system is founded, and 
which has characterized the administration of the government from the 
beginning, is the absolute equality of nations. We hold to this as an 
elementary doctrine; and, while we exercise our own independent choice 
in respect to forms of government, we concede the same right of choice 
to other organized political communities. Whether nations be larger 
or smaller, if in fact they be nations, if they be of the civilized polit¬ 
ical communities of the earth, then are their rights equal, and their 
title to respect from each other equal. Each governs itself, and has 
just authority so to do. One star exceeds another star in glory; but 
they are still all stars, moving each in its proper orbit, and all held 
together by the great attractive power of the universe. But all this 
by no means implies that we feel no interest or concern in questions 
which respect the forms of government in other states. We are 
attached to free popular representative governments, established over 
intelligent communities, as most productive of human happiness; and 
the great duty we owe the world is, to show that these convictions are 
well founded, and to prove by our example, in an age of progress and 
rapidly increasing light and knowledge, that the masses of the people, 
if religious, moral and well educated, may be safely trusted with self- 
government. 

You are pleased, gentlemen, to speak of me as of one who has ren¬ 
dered some service to the country. It is true that in that service a 
great portion of my life has been spent; and efforts have been made by 
me, from time to time,— never, I trust, without patriotic purpose, never 
without labor and care, and sometimes not without the most over¬ 
whelming anxiety. If I have accomplished anything for maintaining 
the institutions of the country, civil and religious, I rejoice at it; and 
you may be assured, gentlemen, that so far as any man may rely for 
consistency on his own settled opinions and most determined purposes, 
what I have been, and what I am, I shall continue to be to the end. 

Again I thank you for your invitation, and pray you to assure my 
21 * 


246 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


neighbors, the citizens of Plymouth, that their pleasure in seeing me 
could not surpass that which I should feel in being among them, on 
any occasion which is to call them together, and likely to afford them 
gratification. Your obliged fellow-citizen 

and humble servant, 

Daniel Webster. 

To John Russell, Esq., A. L. Russell, Esq., E. A. Sherman, Esq., 
M. Rates, Jr., Esq., Plymouth , Mass. 

The fifth regular toast was: 

“ Cape Cod, ‘ the Right Arm of Massachusetts: ’ In the hollow of 
her hand she held our Pilgrim Fathers, till a compact of freedom 
could be framed, to be reared on £ Plymouth Rock.’ ” 

To this sentiment Hon. A. Alden, a member of the Senate from 
Worcester county, who was born on Cape Cod, responded in some 
well-timed and appropriate remarks. 

The following sentiment was then read : 

“ The Loyal Spirit of the Hungarian Revolution : It was liberty 
protected by law, and not liberty in violation of law, for which the 
Hungarian lawyers strove.” 

To this toast Stephen H. Phillips, of Salem, the district attorney 
for the eastern district, responded in a strain of eloquent remark, to 
prove what is often overlooked, but is nevertheless true, that Kossuth 
and his comrades were acting in pursuance of legal enactments, in 
their struggles for Hungarian freedom. 

The president then read the sixth regular toast: 

“ Hungary, the Ancient Bulwark of Christendom: Europe owes 
her a heavy debt, and should pay it promptly.” 

M. Pulszky, Governor Kossuth’s secretary, responded to this toast 
in a few appropriate remarks. 

<c The Press : The general spread of intelligence is the best security 
for freedom.” 

Mr. Coggshall, the reporter for the New York Tribune, responded, 
and demonstrated that a free press is the surest safeguard of American 
liberty. 

Count Koscielski, a Polish exile, was introduced to the company by 
the president; and, in reply to a sentiment in honor of Poland, 
addressed some remarks to Governor Kossuth, instituting to some 
extent a comparison between their respective nations, to which Gov- 


i 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 247 

ernor Kossuth responded, predicting that the day would yet come 
when, in the providence of God, both nations would be free. 

At seven p. m., the time of departure for the cars, Kossuth and his 
companions left Plymouth for Boston. The train which conveyed 
them carried also upwards of six hundred persons; a portion of the 
great multitude which, notwithstanding the pelting rain during the 
whole day, had thronged the streets of Plymouth to a degree never 
before witnessed there. 


KOSSUTH AT FALL RIVER. 


On Thursday, May 13, Kossuth visited Fall River, in compliance 
with the invitation of the citizens of that place. 

At half-past eleven o’clock, A. m., attended by Hon. Anson Burlin¬ 
game, General Ward, and Mr. Holman, of the State Committee, Hon. 
P. W. Leland and H. N. Gunn, of the Fall River committee, and 
several members of the Legislature, the Magyar and his suite started 
in a special train from the Old Colony Railroad station. The car in 
which they rode was beautifully decorated with flags. 

At one o’clock the train arrived at Fall River, in the midst of a 
heavy rain, and was met outside the town by an enthusiasm among the 
people which no floods could drown. There having been some uncer¬ 
tainty about the coming of Kossuth, in default of the telegraph and 
the weather, the citizens were prevented from carrying out their plan 
of a procession, but were not taken off their guard. A moment’s notice 
brought an enthusiastic crowd to the depot, in the midst of a pitiless 
storm, and a throng of people surrounded the carriages all the way up 
the hill to the Mount Hope House. 

The main street was gayly decorated with flags, and over it, opposite 
the Town Hall, hung a “ Welcome to Kossuth,” in large capitals. 
Here and at the Mount Hope House, where he alighted, Kossuth was 
cheered by dense crowds in the street, who filled every window, high 
and low. Had it been a pleasant day, the people might have been 
more gayly dressed ; but they could hardly have been more numerous 
or enthusiastic. While passing from the depot to the hotel, Kossuth 
was saluted with a discharge of artillery and the ringing of bells. 
Besides a fine company of artillery, there were two engine-companies 
out, with full uniform, and bands. Probably in no place has the Hun¬ 
garian governor been greeted with a warmer welcome, and that, too, 
in spite of the utmost inclemency of the elements. Had the weather 
been favorable, there would undoubtedly have been a larger assemblage 
than has taken place in New England out of Boston. 

At the Mount Hope House, numerous ladies and gentlemen of Fall 
River, and other places, were introduced to Kossuth. Among the num- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


249 


ber was Hon. Rodney French, of New Bedford, who, in behalf of his 
fellow-citizens, invited the Magyar to visit that city. 

A committee of gentlemen from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, presented 

material aid” to the amount of two hundred dollars. This commit¬ 
tee consisted of Joseph T. Sisson, Andrew Potter, Charles A. Leonard, 
Robert Sherman, C. F. Manchester, John Daley, George D. Street, 
Charles F. Sanders, G. L. Spencer, William Jeffres, Erving Reed, S. 
R. Bucklin, Samuel Shove, Edwin Jerauld, John B. Reed. In pre¬ 
senting the money, Mr. Sisson, the chairman, said: 

MR. SISSON’S SPEECH. 

11 Governor Kossuth : I am commissioned by a committee of the 
Rhode Island Engine Company, in connection with the citizens of 
Pawtucket, to tender to you a small offering as a testimonial of their 
respect for you, for the fearless and high-minded course which you 
have pursued in relation to the cause of liberty in your own country, 
and of their cordial and heart-felt sympathy for your oppressed and 
suffering countrymen. They offer it not for its intrinsic value as fur¬ 
nishing material aid, but as an earnest of their hearty God speed for 
the success of your mission. It comes from men who have not exam¬ 
ined, and do not care to examine, with diplomatic nicety, the question 
of national policy involved in the doctrine you advocate. It is enough 
for their present purpose to know,— enough for true men everywhere 
to know,— that a comparatively weak people are borne down by the 
strong arm of despotic power, that a brave people are struggling man¬ 
fully for the cause of freedom. If it shall in any degree assist in hast¬ 
ening the time when your nation shall take her stand among the nations 
of the earth, a united, prosperous and free people, they will feel that 
they have thereby reaped a rich reward for the trifling exertion they 
have made. Accept it, sir, and with it our prayers for your personal 
success and prosperity, and for the speedy emancipation of your country 
from despotic power.” 

Kossuth replied briefly, saying it was always gratifying to him to 
receive such material evidences of sympathy, especially when bestowed 
by the people. What the people’s heart feels to be right, is right. He 
felt highly honored that Pawtucket had rendered a verdict in favor of 
Hungary. The chairman was pleased to remark that the present was 
not the time for discussion, but rather for action. If, when the regulars 


250 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of 1775 went out from Boston to Lexington, the people had stopped 
to discuss the expediency of striking for liberty, the United States 
might now be under the rule of England. But such was not the case. 
Courageous hearts, iron wills and prompt action, produced results such 
as the world never beheld before. 

The reception at Fall Biver was under the conduct of Hon. Foster 
Hooper, Hon. N. B. Borden, Dr. P. W. Leland, Bichard Borden, 
David Perkins, and H. N. Gunn, Esqs., as committee of arrange¬ 
ments, and Chester W. Greene, Esq., as chief marshal. 

After resting, or rather remaining, at the hotel till half-past two, 
Kossuth was conducted to the Town Hall. This is one of the finest 
and most spacious edifices in the state, built of granite, and of excellent 
proportions. The inside measurement is eighty-eight feet by seventy- 
one, nearly one-fourth larger than the area of Faneuil Hall, with a gal¬ 
lery sixteen feet wide across one end. The seats nearest the platform 
were occupied by bond-holders, to the number of several hundred. 
After the arrival of Kossuth, the unoccupied space was immediately 
filled, and the immense hall presented a dense living mass, inspired 
with a unanimous spirit of welcome. 

Hon. Foster Hooper arose and addressed Kossuth as follows : 

DR. HOOPER’S SPEECH. 

“ Governor Kossuth : No words of mine are necessary to inform 
you that you are welcome in Fall Biver. The assembling of the thou¬ 
sands whom you have seen surrounding you here to-day has already 
proclaimed it. The salvos of artillery and the shouts of the people 
have made it known to you. 

“You are welcome here, sir, upon this western border of the land 
of the Pilgrims, because you have shown yourself so able and so true 
an advocate of the principles of the Pilgrims,— of republicanism, and 
of political and religious freedom ; because you have shown yourself to 
be so noble a reformer, in your efforts to reform and improve the con¬ 
dition of your own people; not limiting your exertions to secure for 
your nation its time-hallowed rights of nationality, but devoting your¬ 
self to the reforming of its internal institutions, by moulding them into 
republican forms, so as to confer equality of rights upon all. 

“ For these characteristics we honor you; and by honoring you, sir, 
we honor the cause in which you have been engaged. 

“We have watched your course, and found you ever pursuing the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


251 


true and the right, and under difficulties seldom encountered by man; 
and our hearts have warmed into admiration, till we have desired to 
see you, to take you by the hand, and to do something, however little 
it may be, to aid in sustaining the upraised hands of such a prophet 
of freedom, while he wages uncompromising war with tyranny and 
despotism. 

“ The struggle in which you have been engaged has often reminded 
us of that of our forefathers, in their war for independence. There is, 
in fact, a striking analogy in the history of the two nations. Both 
were of foreign origin, and conquered the countries they respectively 
call their own. Both formed their own institutions, and both were 
contending for their preservation against a foreign power which had no 
right to interfere with them. 

“ So far the analogy holds good. Our fathers obtained aid from 
foreign intervention, and were successful. In the case of Hungary, 
the intervention was on the other side, and she was unsuccessful. The 
cause of both was equally just and right. And although Hungary did 
not obtain success, she did more, for she deserved it. 

“ But there is a further analogy. Both had their traitors, and their 
great and good men. 

“The difference in the success of the traitors of the two countries 
produced all the difference of the result. Gorgey sold his country, and 
riots in wealth. Arnold failed in selling his, and lived and died in 
obscurity. And the fortunes of the great and good men of the two 
countries have corresponded to the results of the traitors’ movements. 
Gorgey succeeded, and the noble Kossuth, the Washington of Hun¬ 
gary, is an exile from the land of his fathers. Arnold failed, and 
Washington became the father of his country, and the honored and 
beloved name of the world, the symbol of all that is wise, honest, great 
and good. 

“ But, sir, there are some analogies in the histories of these two 
leading characters, to but one or two of which I will allude, and pray 
that another may be added in the final result of the labors of both,— 
the independence and happiness of their respective countries. Both 
possessed in an eminent degree the entire confidence and affection of 
the great mass of their countrymen. 

“ Washington was surrounded and aided by wise and able men. 
Such, sir, must have been your fortune, or you could not have achieved 
what you did. Superior, as you undoubtedly are, to him in oratory 
and the power of acting upon and directing the minds and the passions 


252 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of men, yet you must have had cooperators who would he an honor to 
any country or any age. On this fact rests our future hope for Hun¬ 
gary ; for we judge of the bulk by the sample. 

“ Another analogy in the two leading characters is, that they have 
both been reviled and traduced. Indeed, who has not, that was ever 
of sufficient importance to be in the way of a bad man ? 

“ Washington was traduced and conspired against, at one time, with 
a view to drive him from the command of the armies of his country. 

“ Such has ever been the portion of great and good men. Aristides 
was banished by his own countrymen, because they were tired of hear¬ 
ing him called the just. And the great, good and philosophic Socrates 
was condemned to drink the poison hemlock, because he could not con¬ 
form his notions to those of the populace, or rather to those of the artful 
priests who hoodwinked and controlled them. 

“Even the Saviour of men, with all his perfections, could not be 
permitted to escape, but was pursued even unto death. 

“ Yours, sir, in this regard, is only the common fate of the great 
and good. Calumny ever clings to them, like the mistletoe to the oak, 
making it all the more conspicuous, without injuring its strength or 
bowing its limbs. 

“ That you should have escaped, would have proved, either that 
you were not of sufficient importance to be pursued by the despots of 
Europe, whom you had so frightened, or that you had proved derelict 
to duty, and an apostate to your cause. 

“That they do not regard you with indifference is shown by their 
efforts to induce the Sultan of Turkey to give you up. Hence the 
calumnies with which they pursue you will be regarded by your 
friends,—and they are not few,—as was said by another, ‘ only as the 
hootings of your enemies, proving that you are at your post of duty.’ 

“ That these calumnies should have preceded you to this country, is 
no more than should have been expected. But that learned professors 
and enterprising editors should have made the profound discoveries 
that the Emperor of Austria had become all at once the friend of free¬ 
dom and free institutions, and was determined to force them upon his 
unwilling subjects even at the point of the bayonet, but, being defeated 
and unable to accomplish his benevolent designs, he had called in to 
his aid his loving brother, the Czar of Russia,—he also having turned 
a propagandist of free institutions,—with the determination of putting 
down slavery and oppression ; while, on the other hand, Hungary, led 
on by yourself, sir, was resisting and opposing all these benevolent 


KOSSUTH IK NEW ENGLAND. 


253 


efforts, was fighting for slavery and the long-established immunities of 
caste, which were operating a most grinding oppression upon all but a 
minority of about five millions of Magyars, who were the privileged 
caste, and who not only oppressed ten millions of other races, but con¬ 
tended successfully with Austria; — I say, sir, that learned professors 
and enterprising editors should have made such discoveries might 
well be a marvel; and that they should gravely attempt to palm them 
off as truth upon the American public proves either their own verd¬ 
ancy and gullibility, or the estimate they put upon the capacity and 
credulity of that public. 

“ The professor has been laid out cold by the public opinion which 
he dared to insult with such trash in Massachusetts. And the editor 
in New York, years ago, found that honorable men would sooner sac¬ 
rifice their lives than stoop to the degradation of acknowledging him to 
be a gentleman. Such may well be the tools of despotism. In an 
intelligent community they can do but little harm. Your reception, 
sir, in New York and Massachusetts, is a just comment upon their 
influence. 

“ Your visit to this country, sir, has laid the American nation under 
great obligation to you. This may be a startling proposition to many. 
But it w T as time, sir, that this nation should be roused to a sense of its 
true position. Seventy-five years of nearly uninterrupted peace and 
prosperity had begun to cool the love of republicanism in many bosoms, 
causing them to lose sight of the true principles of liberty. 

“The almighty dollar was engrossing too exclusively the energies 
of the people in its pursuit; and with many, it is feared, was nearly 
the only object of their worship. But little was thought of the rela¬ 
tions of the New World to the Old, or of this republic to the other 
nations of the globe, beyond what grew out of the interests of trade. 

“ The republic has been a propagandist of its principles; but it has 
stood, like the monument on Bunker Hill, speaking but a silent lan¬ 
guage, feeling perfectly secure in its position. 

“ Despotisms are always propagandists of their system,— always 
ready to countenance, sanction, and aid by force, any overturn of a 
free or constitutional government, by a brother-despot. Such has been 
their history in all ages ; and the more recent examples in Europe, in 
the cases of Hungary, Rome and France, are no exceptions to the gen¬ 
eral rule. They are true to their system. The United States, on the 
one hand, have been more cautious and timid, not even requiring their 
officers abroad to maintain, as they might, a stern and uncompromising 
22 


254 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


republicanism, but have taken all possible pains to impress the despots 
of Europe with the idea that America will take no exceptions to their 
conduct, treat the nations of the Old World as they may, if they will 
only keep on the other side of the Atlantic. 

“ This may have been, and doubtless was, a very wise policy, in the 
infancy of the republic. But how does it become its manhood ? The 
boy might witness the strong robber despoil the weaker traveller, with¬ 
out his interfering, and incur neither criminality nor dishonor; but 
what would be said of the man who should do it? Would he not be 
branded as both criminal and cowardly ? But, suppose the traveller 
should get the better of the contest, and beat down the robber; and 
then a much stronger robber should advance to the assistance of his 
fallen confrere, and the man should still stand looking on, merely 
remarking, 1 It is nothing to me, so long as they do not come on my 
side of the road/— what then would be said of him ? 

“ Would his conduct illustrate either sound morality or political 
foresight ? Will the robbers not come over on his side of the road 1 
Most assuredly they will, and when he has no one to assist him ; for 
his companion has fallen, and the time gone by when the two together 
might have overthrown the first robber, and been ready, with united 
strength, to have set upon the second one, if he dared to show him¬ 
self, which he would not have done, had he known that he had the 
two to meet. 

“ Nations are but individuals multiplied into themselves, and what 
is true of the individual is true of the nation. 

u I say, sir, this nation is under obligations to you for turning its 
attention to its own relative position, and its duties growing out of 
that position. 

“ I regard it, sir, as a kind of special providence, that you were 
permitted to escape to these shores after the downfall of the cause of 
freedom in Hungary. And it may be that, through your instrument- 
ality, under God, the liberties of these United States may be pre¬ 
served, and the cause of freedom and constitutional government here 
not only rendered sure and permanent, but be carried back and made 
to triumph in the Old World. 

“ Such may,—nay, such must be the result, should all the friends 
of freedom and humanity, in both hemispheres, combine their efforts 
to that end. In that event, the horizontal line sometimes talked of, 
that is to be drawn through society, would be drawn just above tyrants’ 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


255 


shoulders. May it soon be your happiness, sir, to see it so drawn, and 
your own Hungary free and independent! ” 

Dr. Hooper, having concluded his address, introduced KoSsuth to 
the assembly, saying that he was extremely ill, and must be excused 
from a very long address, on that account, and because he had to take 
the cars at four o’clock for Boston. 

The Hungarian governor was received with cheering long and 
loud, closing with three cheers for intervention. Kossuth then spoke 
extemporaneously substantially as follows : 

kossuth’s speech at fall river. 

u It is well done, ladies and gentlemen, to consider well that huzza, 
if the word intervention, which the gentlemen suggested to the public 
opinion of the present assembly, should be responded to. Intervention 
has — gentlemen, I don’t exactly know the word ; you understand me 
— it is sharp on both sides. [A voice from the crowd, ‘ Two-edged.’] 
Yes, it has two edges, and it is better to keep off. 

“ I do not know how you can represent me to be eloquent. I never 
study to be eloquent; I never had eloquence, but truth, principle and 
honesty,— simple, because true ; — no other but sincere feelings, 
^ which find their way to the heart, because they come from the heart, 
and meet the approbation of good men, like as the mild whispers of 
the limpid fountain reach the heart of nature’s simple son. But to-day 
I have not even that eloquence. I have had no time for reflection. By 
my many cares and labors, with sleepless nights, my soul has shaken 
this frame as the captive lion shakes the iron bars of his cage. Na¬ 
ture claims her rights, gentlemen. I am sick. Excuse me if I fall 
short of your expectations. But for what purpose is eloquence here ? 
Have I not your sanction to my principles ? 

“ The first resolutions I met from Massachusetts, giving me encour¬ 
agement, were passed here. Even now you are going on to manifest 
the sympathy of generous men. I have no need to impress your 
minds. The very words you have spoken, sir,— that was my speech. 
You have anticipated me. Your words are to me, not only, but for 
me. [Applause.] Those were my wishes. Those were the dangers 
I humbly point out. Only you have done it as a citizen, while I 
stand as a petitioner. To you, ladies and gentlemen, I need only give 
thanks. And thanks are better told by the warm grasp of the hand 


256 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


and the short word, God bless you, than by any skilful oratory. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

“ You have encouraged me, sir, not to feel offended at calumny. 
Well, I take it not only as a necessity of my position, but I am glad 
of it. If I were not opposed, I should think myself not worthy. 
Their opposition proves that they fear me; and I promise to do all I 
can to be still more feared, all my life, by tyrants and despots. I am 
not misled by these calumnies. What is their effect ? Here and there 
only a word has been spoken. It is answered by the sympathy of the 
people all over the United States. Within a few days I have received 
a very curious letter,— I could give the name, but the writer calls 
himself a travelled American,— which letter tells me that I am doing a 
great mischief, even here, to advocate the necessity of a republic in Eu¬ 
rope ; for many gentlemen, even out of those who have addressed me, 
have not a love for their own republic, but would like to see her a con¬ 
stitutional monarchy, which this gentleman says is the happiest form of 
government in the world. Now, this is somewhat surprising, gentle¬ 
men ; but, out of twenty-five millions, one man having much travelled 
among despots to have such principles, there is not much danger. 
Yet, if such principles spread, there may be some danger; and there¬ 
fore here is one motive more for Americans to help us purify the air 
of old Europe, that it may not make such impressions on and corrupt 
travelled Americans. [Laughter.] • 

“You have been pleased to refer to Washington, and to couple my 
name with his. I do not aspire to that high honor. But I may look 
up to that star alone on mankind’s sky for inspiration, and one thing 
promise, to equal him in love of country and honest devotion. But 
the parallel you have drawn, sir, between my country and yours, 
shows how much depends on success. I have not succeeded, it is true; 
but I have been received in America, an exile, as no successful con¬ 
queror has ever been received, which shows that a change has come 
over the world. 

“ Out-worn though I be, I wish to leave in such an assembly a good 
impression, and I will attend to just two points of objection. 

“ 1. That the people of Europe are not prepared for liberty, and 

“ 2. That there is now no chance for any change in Europe in favor 
of liberty. 

“1. As to the first point,— why, gentlemen, when, two hundred 
years ago, your fathers landed here, they found the Indians, under 
King Philip and Massasoit, capable to govern themselves. To say that 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


25T 


any man is not capable to govern himself, is to say he is born to be 
oppressed. And where is man born to be oppressed ? It is contrary 
to nature. Not even the worm has this lot, for it resists oppression. 
Men are born to be free. Freedom is the best schoolmaster to teach 
men how to be free. 

11 The people of this country are, to a great extent, Europeans, 
not differing from those who remain in Europe; and they are good 
republicans. Well, they either brought their capability for freedom 
with them, or they have acquired it here. In either case, it shows 
that, if you give them freedom, they will either know how to use it, 
or they will be able to learn how. [Applause.] But the people in 
Europe are not free. There is a reason for that. No plant can 
grow with a millstone on it. Take off the stone, and it will grow. 
All men are created to be free. 

“ 2. The second objection is, that there is no chance for revolution 
in Europe now. Hungary is overthrown, and under the feet of des¬ 
potic power. What chance has she to rise,— or to succeed, if she does 
rise ? To all this I reply that there is not now in Europe a single 
nation which has not ten times the chance that your forefathers had, 
when they threw off the yoke of Britain, to gain liberty by a revolu¬ 
tion. Yet the generous people of 1775 did not count the dangers, but 
resolved to have their rights at any cost. God sent foreign help to 
aid your brave hearts, and you are free. Poor Hungary has a hope, 
even in the extremity of her necessity. Whenever the condition of a 
nation becomes so insupportable that it has nothing to lose by an effort 
to regain its liberty, then it will make the trial. This is precisely our 
case in Hungary; and we will try. There is no class contented in 
Hungary. It is different in France. There, for example, the bankers 
are contented ; they make money under the government, as it is; and 
they, at least, desire no change. And so it may be of some other classes; 
but not so in Hungary. In that country, the ancient nobility even is 
not contented with the present condition; for they, too, are oppressed. 
Hungary has already won her-social freedom; she has abolished her 
aristocracy, and so abolished it as not to offend the aristocratic class, 
but attach them to the common cause. In former times, a Hungarian 
farmer, who had forty-five acres of land in his farm, was obliged by law 
to pay one-ninth of the crops, and one hundred and two days’ labor in 
the year, to the landlord, besides paying all the taxes. He was a free 
man, and not a serf. He might move away, if he liked; but, if he 
occupied the farm, he must pay this labor, one-ninth of the crops and 
22 * 


258 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the taxes. This was the property of the landlord, by the law. This 
power and property the landlord gave up; and the farmer became the 
proprietor of the land, and all his labor on it his own. • These legal 
rights the nobility did not give up for nothing ; but to them an indem¬ 
nification was voted of fifteen millions of dollars, which they will not 
receive till Hungary is free. Austria can never pay it. She is always 
on the verge of bankruptcy, reposing only on bayonets, which she has 
hard work to support from year to year. 

“ Then the paper-money of Hungary is in favor of a revolution. 
Of this, some thirty-five millions of dollars was issued, of which fifteen 
millions of dollars is in the hands of the people, worth nothing now, 
but of value if Hungary becomes free. There are also religious rea¬ 
sons. Our principle left any church free to manage its own concerns. 
The Protestants had their faith and worship. The Catholics had a 
right to enjoy their large property under the republic. But Austria 
takes their convents, because she wants money. Therefore the Roman 
Catholics, save the Jesuitical order, do not like Austria. Hungary 
has always been attached to religious freedom, and has made two 
revolutions for it. 

“ The taxes of Hungary used to be but four millions five hundred thou¬ 
sand dollars ; now they are sixty-five millions of dollars, and collected 
in the most vexatious manner possible. If Hungary is free, no such 
taxes are needed, because municipal government is cheap, and we will 
have no centralization and no standing army. We have learned that 
a standing army is not needed to maintain the liberty of the people, 
but only arms in the hands of the people themselves. 

“ I here have taken the lowest motives; and, supposing my coun¬ 
trymen to be only selfish men, and to have no high love of principle, 
there must be a revolution; and they are not a little handful, but 
fifteen millions of men. 

“ Hungary wants nothing at this moment but me and one hundred 
thousand arms. I say not this in a boastful spirit. There are a hun-. 
dred other men who can do all I can do. But it is a fact, however 
accounted for, that I have the confidence of the people. And this is a 
great point, not gained in a day. It takes a life to gain the confidence 
of a people, and the people must have confidence in somebody, to gain 
their freedom. 

“ Therefore I maintain my position in behalf of my country, and 
will not betray their confidence.” 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


259 


Kossuth closed with a reference to the principles on which the Pil¬ 
grims of New England founded their colonies, and on which alone 
these states can flourish; but no report was published of this portion 
of his speech. He returned to Boston, by special train, at nine 
o’clock. 


KOSSUTH'S LAST SPEECH IN FANEUIL HALL. 


On Friday evening, May 14, Kossuth appeared for the last time in 
Faneuil Hall. He made a speech of two hours’ length, on the condi¬ 
tion of Europe. The hall was filled at an early hour with the pur¬ 
chasers of Hungarian bonds, who were admitted by ticket, with much 
less inconvenience than that experienced on the former occasion, though 
the space inside was densely filled. The galleries were chiefly occupied 
by ladies, as was also much of the space beneath the galleries. Previous 
to the organization of the meeting, at the call of the audience, several 
short speeches were made. Among others who addressed the meeting, 
were Hon. Myron Lawrence of the Senate, Rev. Father Taylor, Rev. 
John Pierpont, William A. White, Esq., Dr. Kittredge, and the Rev. 
Mr. Slicer, late chaplain of the United States Senate, who spoke very 
warmly in favor of Kossuth and intervention. Mr. Pierpont’s 
remarks, partly in prose and partly in verse, were these : 

“My opinion is, that we owe it to our position, as a free nation, to 
favor the cause of freedom in all other nations; and this at every 
hazard. Even war, bad as it is, is not the greatest of national evils. 
Better, far better, meet the perils of war, in establishing liberty in other 
lands, than spend an inglorious peace, however prosperous, in prop¬ 
ping up slavery in our own. In settling ‘ the balance of power ’ 
among the nations of the earth, the weight of this nation must be 
taken into the account. It must be felt for or against the cause of 
civil liberty. We cannot be neutral, if we would, as to the moral 
influence that, whether we will or not, we must exert. 

“ Then let our might be thrown 
Into the scale where bleeding Freedom lies. 

Beneath imperial despots’ gloating eyes. 

Let our voice thunder in the tyrant’s ear: 

Ours is a voice that tyrants hate to hear ! 

If Austria’s double-headed Eagle stoops 
Upon the self-devoted Magyar troops, 

And the great Bear comes growling through his snows 
To help that Eagle rend his struggling foes, 

Let the stern voice of all free nations swell 
Above the voice of ocean’s waves, and tell 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


261 


That Bear and Eagle both, that if they dare 
Make common cause, — the Eagle and the Bear, 

Girt though by myriad myrmidons they be. 

Shall stand the common foe of all the free, — 

Let come what may come, even of war the tug : 

Scream for scream, growl for growl, and hug for hug. 

Till the round world shall see if despots’ thrones. 

With blood cemented, and built up of bones, 

Will stand as firm through that stern strife as stands 
The chair of state upheld by freemen’s willing hands. 

On the arrival of Kossuth, at a few minutes past eight o’clock, Gen. 
Wilson called the meeting to order, and the following officers were 
elected: 

President — Hon. Nathaniel P. Banks, Jr. 

Vice-presidents — Hon. Charles Theodore Russell, of Boston; 
Hon. J. S. C. Knowlton, of Worcester; Hon. Caleb W. Prouty, of 
Scituate; Hon. Calvin Torrey, of Palmer; Dr. Samuel G. Howe, of 
Boston, and Samuel Hooper, of Boston. 

Secretaries — William S. Robinson, of Lowell; Alfred T. Turner, 
of Boston; Elizur Wright, of Boston; Francis H. Underwood, of 
Webster. 

The president, Mr. Banks, with appropriate remarks, introduced 
Kossuth, who rose and delivered the following speech : 

kossuth’s speech on the condition of Europe. 

‘‘Gentlemen: Some generous friends, to whom my heart is bound 
with ties of everlasting gratitude, for their kindness, support and pro¬ 
tection,— men distinguished also by the affection and confidence of 
their fellow-citizens,— have intimated to me that before I leave Boston 
and Massachusetts,— those bright stars of consolation in the gloomy 
night of the poor wandering exile,—I am desired to give some explana¬ 
tion, in Faneuil Hall, about the present condition of Europe, and the 
character of our days. 

“Though out-worn by daily exertion, and deprived of time to be 
prepared as such a distinguished assembly has a right to claim, still I 
do not hesitate thankfully to accept the invitation; the more, because, 
amidst the most generous manifestations of sympathy, I could not fail 
to see that there exists a doubt about the probability of a new struggle 
for liberty in Europe being very nigh, and a despondency about the 


262 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


chances of its success. Hence the impression that, there being no field 
for our activity now, there is no occasion for either material or political 
aid from America; and therefore, though there exists an almost uni¬ 
versal interest in our success, and a lively desire to countenance our 
exertions, still the active and operative aid may be well delayed to that 
moment when the probabilities of a new struggle become evident, by 
seeing it anew engaged, and the banner of revolution once more 
unfurled on the eastern continent. 

11 There is scarcely anything more noxious to the cause which I plead; 
there is, indeed, nothing more torturing to my own mind. I see, as 
clearly as I see you, that the die is not about to be cast, but is already 
cast. I see the war between freedom and oppression not about to be 
engaged, but really engaged. I see Europe just in that condition in 
which two inexorable armies are, both marching already to meet. I 
see that the shock of their meeting can neither be avoided nor delayed. 
It must come. [Applause.] I see all this, not because I wish it, but 
because I know it. I see it, because I myself have taken, and still 
take, a considerable part in the arrangements of the march. I see it, 
because I know what are the elements of the struggle, and what is the 
organization of these elements. I know what are the forces we can 
dispose of with certainty,— with certainty, weighed not by visionary 
imagination, but with that calm arithmetical calculation with which 
the chief of an army looks to the register of his regiments before he 
offers or accepts a battle. 

“ I see all this with the lively feeling of that responsibility which a 
man must feel before letting loose the fury of war. You can, there¬ 
fore, imagine how torturing it must be to my mind, to know that such 
a declaration from the United States as the resolutions of Massachu¬ 
setts, and such material aid as would enable me to provide for those 
necessities which cannot be provided for without financial means, 
would insure the triumph of liberty; — to know that the additional 
benefit of a good vessel, and of one hundred thousand arms, would 
control the issue of the question which principle shall rule the world, 
and to see that additional benefit not denied out of want of sympathy, 
but delayed out of want of faith,— delayed when it is just to-day that 
it would be an anchor of security, whereas every day’s delay makes it 
either superfluous or useless. You may imagine, gentlemen, how that 
scepticism, that doubt, must painfully affect my heart. 

“It may be that this doubt about the probability of a European 
revolution arises from not being sufficiently acquainted with the 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


263 


present condition of Europe. I therefore accepted the present oppor¬ 
tunity to enter into its explanation; but it is my duty to advise this 
distinguished assembly that, if it desires me to speak about that sub¬ 
ject, it must nerve itself with considerable patience. The subject is 
not stirring, nor can it be disposed of in a few words. I will have 
rather to deliver a lecture than an address. 

“Will you, ladies and gentlemen, hear rather a short address ? Please 
to tell me your wish. I will say a few heart-felt words of thanks, for 
all the kindness I have met in Boston, and bid you a cordial farewell. 
If you will have an explanation about the condition of Europe, then 
be pleased to arm yourselves with patience. [Applause.] What is 
your sovereign will ? What shall I do ? [Cries of‘ Go on, go on,’ 
with prolonged applause.] „ 

“ Well, I will obey. [A voice in the crowd, 1 The longer the better.’ 
Applause.] 

“ Ladies and Gentlemen: The gigantic struggle of the first French 
revolution associated the name of France so much with the cause of 
freedom in Europe, that all the world got accustomed to see France 
take the lead in the struggle for European liberty, and to look to it as 
a power intrusted by Providence with the initiation of revolutions,— as 
a power without the impulse of which no liberal movement has any 
hope on the European continent. 

“ I, from my earliest days, never shared that opinion; I felt always 
more sympathy with the Anglo-Saxon character and Anglo-Saxon 
institutions, which raised England, notwithstanding its monarchy and 
its aristocracy, to a position prouder than Borne ever was in its most 
glorious days [applause], and which, free from monarchical and aristo- 
cratical elements here in America, lie at the foundation of a political 
organization, upon which the first true democratic republic, also con¬ 
solidated and developed in freedom, power and prosperity, in such a 
short time, as to make it a living wonder to the contemporary age, 
and a book full of instruction to the coming generations. [Applause.] 

“ However, that opinion about the French initiative prevailed in 
Europe; and it was a great misfortune, because you know that France 
has always yet forsaken the movement which it raised in Europe, and 
the other nations, acting not spontaneously, but only following the 
impulse which the French have imparted to them, faltered and 
stopped at once, as soon as the French locomotive stopped. [Ap¬ 
plause.] With that opinion of the French supremacy, no revolution 
in Europe could have a definite, happy issue. 


264 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“ Freedom never yet was given to nations as a gift, but only as a 
reward [applause], bravely earned by own exertions, own sacrifices 
and own toil [applause]; and never will, never shall it be attained 
otherwise! [Applause.] 

“ I speak, therefore, out of profound conviction of my soul, when I 
say that, though the heart of the philanthropist must feel pained at 
the new hard trials to which the French nation is and will yet be exposed 
by the momentary success of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte’s inglorious 
usurpation, still that very fact will prove advantageous to the ultimate 
success of liberty in Europe. [Applause.] Louis Napoleon’s coup 
d’etat , much against his will, has emancipated Europe from its reliance 
upon France. [Applause.] The combined initiative of nations has 
succeeded to the initiative of France; spontaneity and self-reliance 
have replaced the desponding and foreign impulse, and reliance upon 
foreign aid. France is reduced to the common level of nations, 
obliged to join general combinations, instead of regulating them: 
and this I take for a very great advantage. Many have wondered at 
the momentary success of Louis Napoleon, and are inclined to take it 
for an evidence that the French nation is either not capable or not 
worthy to be free. But that is a great fallacy. The momentary 
success of Louis Napoleon is rather an evidence that France is 
thoroughly democratic. All the revolutions in France have resulted 
in the preponderance of that class which bears the denomination of 
Bourgeoisie. 

“ Amongst all possible qualifications of oppression, none is more 
detested by the people than the oppression by an Assembly. The 
National Assembly of France was the most treacherous the world has 
ever yet known. Issued from universal suffrage, it went so far as to 
abolish universal suffrage; and every day of its existence was a new 
blow more stricken at democracy for the profit of the Bourgeoisie. 
Louis Napoleon has beaten asunder that Assembly, which the French 
democracy had so many reasons to hate and to despise ; and the people 
applauded him, as the people of England applauded Cromwell when he 
whipped out the Rump Parliament, though, indeed, there is not the 
slightest likeness between Cromwell the Giant and Louis Napoleon 
the Dwarf. [Applause and cheers.] 

11 But by what means was Louis Napoleon permitted to do even 
what the people liked to see done ? By no other means than by flat¬ 
tering the principle of democracy. He restored the universal suffrage. 
It is an infernal trick, to be sure j it is a shadow given for reality • but 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


265 


still it proves that the democratic spirit is so consolidated in France 
that even despotic ambition must flatter it. [Applause.] Well, 
depend upon it, this democracy, which the victorious usurper feels 
himself constrained to flatter in the brightest moments of his triumph,— 
this democracy will either make out of Louis Napoleon a tool, in spite 
of himself, serving the democracy, or it will crush him ! [Applause 
and cheers.] 

11 France is the country of sudden changes and of unthought-of 
accidents. I will, therefore, not presume to tell the events of its 
next week; but one alternative I dare to state,— Louis Napoleon either 
falls or maintains himself. [Laughter.] The fall of Louis Napoleon, 
though old monarchical elements should unite to throw him up, can 
have no other issue than a republic,— a republic more faithful to the 
community of freedom in Europe than all the former revolutions 
have been. Or, if Louis Napoleon maintains himself, he can do so 
only either by relying upon the army, or by flattering the feelings and 
interest of the masses. If he relies upon the army, he must give to it 
glory and profit; or, in other words, he must give to it war. Well, a 
war of France against whomever, for whatsoever purpose, is the 
best possible chance for the success of European revolution. Or, if 
Louis Napoleon relies upon the feelings of the masses,— as, indeed, he 
appears willing to,— in that case, in spite of himself, he becomes a 
tool in the hands of democracy; and if, by becoming such, he forsakes 
the allegiance of his masters,— the league of absolutist cal powers,— 
well, he will either be forced to attack them, or be attacked by them. 
That is so much a necessity of his position, that I would venture the 
prophecy that, should he succeed to maintain himself to the next 
spring, without being attacked from abroad, you will see him brought 
to the necessity of an offensive war; may be against England, but, in 
my opinion, more probably against Austria. They cannot both stand 
on the soil of Italy; and, whoever be the ruler of France, he may 
abandon Italy to herself, but never can abandon it to Austria. 
Against the rivalry of geographical necessity no whim of personal 
inclinations can prevail, and not even cowardice can submit to it. 

11 Whichever of these alternatives may occur, so much I take for 
sure, that the momentary success of Louis Napoleon’s coup d'etat , in 
its ultimate issue, will and must prove more subservient to the 
revolutionary movement of Europe, than if the French republic of 
1848, with the unhappy poetry of Lamartinian policy, forsaking faith¬ 
lessly the revolution, and resulting in the degradation of the National 
23 


266 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Assembly, and in the preponderance of the Bourgeoisie, could have 
been continued by a peaceful solution of the presidential election, 
which would have taken place at this very period, without the coup 
d'etat Napoleon. [Applause.] 

“ It is not for the first time that he who serves the devil ruins him, 
in spite of himself. [Long-continued applause.] 

“ So much for France ; now as to Italy. 

“Italy! the sunny garden of Europe, whose blossoms are blighted 
by the icy north wind from St. Petersburg! Italy, that captured 
nightingale, placed under a fragrant bush of roses, beneath an ever- 
blue sky! Italy was always the battle-field of the contending prin¬ 
ciples, since hundreds and hundreds of years the German emperors, 
the kings of Spain, and the kings of France, fought their private 
feuds, their bloody battles, on her much-coveted soil, and, by their 
destructive influence, kept down every progress, and fostered every 
jealousy. By the recollections of old, the spirit of liberty was 
nowhere so dangerous for European absolutism as in Italy. And this 
spirit of republican liberty, this warlike genius of ancient Borne, was 
never extinguished between the Alps and the Faro. 

“We are taught by the scribes of absolutism to speak of the 
Italians as if they were a nation of cowards; and we forget that the 
most renowned masters of the science of war, the greatest generals, up 
to our day, were Italians,— Piccolomini, Montecucculi, Farnese, 
Eugene of Savoy, Spinola, and Bonaparte,— a galaxy of names whose 
glory is dimmed but by the reflection that none of them fought for his 
own country. As often as the spirit of liberty awakened in Italy, the 
servile forces of Germany, of Spain, and of France, poured into the 
country, and extinguished the glowing spark in the blood of the 
people, lest it should once more illumine the dark night of Europe. 
[Cries of 1 Shame/] Frederic Barbarossa destroyed Milan to its 
foundations, when it attempted to resist his imperial encroachments, 
by the league of independent cities, and led the plough over its smok¬ 
ing ruins. Charles the Fifth gathered all his powers around him to 
subdue Florence, when it declared itself a democratic republic. 
Napoleon extinguished the last remnants of republican self-govern¬ 
ment by crushing the republics of Venice, Genoa, Lucca, Bagusa, 
and left untouched only by derision, to ridicule republicanism, the 
Commonwealth of San Marino; and the Holy Alliance parted the 
spoils of Napoleon, and riveted anew the iron fetters together, which 
enslaved Italy, and forged new spiritual fetters, prevented the exten- 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


267 


sion of education, and destroyed the press, in order that the Italians 
should not remember their past. 

“ Every page, glorious in their history for twenty-five centuries, is 
connected with the independence of Italy; every stain upon her honor 
is connected with foreign rule. And the burning minds of the Italians, 
though every spiritual food is denied to them, cannot be taught not to 
remember their past glory, and their present degradation. Every 
stone speaks of the ancient glory; every Austrian policeman, every 
French soldier, of the present degradation. The tyrants have no 
power to unmake history, and to silence the feelings of the nation; 
and amongst all the feelings powerful to stir up the activity of man¬ 
kind, there is none more impressible than unmerited degradation, which 
impels us to redeem our lost honor. What is it, therefore, that keeps 
those petty tyrants of Italy, who are jealous of one another, on their 
tottering thrones, divided as they are among themselves, whilst the 
revolutionizing spirit of liberty unites the people ? It is only the pro¬ 
tection of Austria, studding the peninsula with her bayonets and with 
her spies; and Austria itself can dare to stud thus Italy, because 
she relies upon the assistance of Russia. She can send her armies to 
Italy, because Russia guards her eastern dominions. Let Russia keep 
off, and Austria is unable to keep Italy in bondage; and the Italians, 
united in the spirit of independence, will settle easily their account 
with their own powerless princes. [Applause.] Keep off the icy 
blast from the Russian snows, and the tree of freedom will grow up in 
the garden of Europe; though cut down by the despots, it will spring 
anew from the roots in the soil, which was always genial for the tree. 
[Applause.] Remember that no revolution in Italy was ever yet 
crushed by their own domestic tyrants without foreign aid; remember 
that one-third of the Austrian army, which occupies Italy, are Hun¬ 
garians, who have fought against and triumphed over the yellow-black 
flag of Austria, under the same tri-color which, having the same colors 
for both countries, shows emblematically that Hungary and Italy 
are but two wings of the same army, united against a common enemy. 
Remember that even now neither the Pope nor the little princes of 
middle Italy can subsist without an Austrian and French garrison. 
[Applause.] And remember that Italy is a half isle, open from three 
sides to the friendship of all who sympathize with civil and religious 
liberty on earth, but from the sea not open to Russia and Austria, 
because they are not maritime powers; and so long as England is 
conscious of the basis of its power, and so soon as America gets con- 


268 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


scious of the condition upon which its future depends, Austria and 
Russia will never be allowed to become maritime powers. [Applause.] 
“ And when you feel instinctively that the heart of the Roman must 
rage with fury when he looks back into the mirror of his past, that 
the Venetian cannot help to weep tears of fire and of blood from the 
Rialto,—when you feel all this, then look back how the Romans have 
fought in 1849, with a heroism scarcely paralleled in the most glo¬ 
rious day of ancient Rome; and let me tell, in addition, upon the 
certainty of my own positive knowledge, that the world never yet has 
seen such a complete and extensive revolutionary organization as that 
of Italy to-day — ready to burst out into an irresistible storm at the 
slightest opportunity, and powerful enough to make that opportunity, 
if either foreign interference is checked, or the interfering foreigners 
occupied at home. [Applause.] The revolution of 1848 has revealed 
and developed the warlike spirit of Italy. Except a few wealthy pro¬ 
prietors, already very uninfluential, the most singular unanimity 
exists, both as to aim and to means. There is no shade of difference 
of opinion, either as to what is to be done, or how to do it. All are 
unanimous in their devotion to the union and independence of Italy. 
With France or against France, by the sword, at all sacrifices, with¬ 
out compromise, they are but bent on renewing, over and over again, 
the battle, with that confidence that even without aid they will tri¬ 
umph, in the long run. [Cheers and prolonged applause.] 

“ The difficulty in Italy is not how to make a revolution, but howto 
prevent its untimely outbreak; and still, even in that respect, there is 
such a complete discipline as the world never yet has seen. In Rome, 
Romagna, Lombardy, Venice, Sicily, and all the middle Italy, there 
exists an invisible government, whose influence is everywhere discern¬ 
ible. [Applause.] It has eyes and hands in all departments of 
public service, in all classes of society; it has its taxes voluntarily 
paid, its force organized, its police, its newspapers regularly printed 
and circulated, though the possession of a single copy would send the 
holder to the galleys. The officers of the existing government convey 
the missives of the invisible government; the diligences transport its 
agents. One line from one of these agents opens to you the galleries 
of art on prohibited days, gives you the protection of uniformed 
officials, and, if you find no place at a diligence office, determines the 
directors to send a supplementary carriage. The chief of police avowed 
opelily to Cardinal Antonelli that formerly the police watched and 
spied, but now the police itself is watched and spied, and punished 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


269 


terribly, inexorably, if it dares to interfere with the orders of the in¬ 
visible government [applause], which never fail to be punctually 
obeyed. [Applause.] 

“ The opinion of the enemy being the best evidence of the prospects 
of the revolution, I claim your indulgence to tell a very graphic 
incident. 

[‘Goon!’ ‘Goon!’] 

“A monsignore, the head of the secret police in Rome, came to 
the English consul, Mr. Freeborn, reproaching him with having shel¬ 
tered the enemies of the papal government. ‘ Whatever my sympa¬ 
thies, I protect equally,’ said Freeborn, ‘ all who seek refuge from 
political oppression under my roof. [Applause.] If, to-morrow, an 
insurrection breaks out, and you, monsignore, come to the consulate 
to demand an asylum, you shall not be taken out whilst I am living.’ 
[Applause.] ‘ On your honor? ’ said, eagerly, the monsignore. ‘Yes, 
on my honor,’ answered Freeborn. [Applause.] ‘ 0 ! ’ said the 
police director, with flaming eyes, and grasping enthusiastically the 
consul’s hands, ‘ I shall count on your word — I shall; ’ and, for¬ 
getting his official errand, he proceeded eagerly to detail the disguise 
in which he would present himself. [Laughter and applause.] 

“ Such is the condition of Italy, in the very opinion of the director 
of the secret police; and that this is the condition of all Italy, is 
shown on one side in the fact that the King of Naples holds fettered 
in dungeons twenty-five thousand patriots, and Radetzky [ ‘ Shame! 
shame!’] has sacrificed nearly forty thousand political martyrs on the 
scaffold [‘ Hear, hear! ’]; and still the scaffold continues to be watered 
with blood, and still the dungeons receive new victims, evidently prov¬ 
ing what spirit there exists in the people of Italy. [Applause.] 

“And still Americans doubt that we are on the eve of a terrible 
revolution; and they ask, what use can I make of any material aid ? 
—when Italy is a barrel of powder, which the slightest spark can light; 
and Italy is the left wing of the army of liberty, of which Hungary is 
the right! [Applause and cheers.] 

“ In respect to foreign rule, Germany is more fortunate than Italy. 
From the times of the treaty of Verdun, when it separated from 
France and Italy, through the long period of more than a thousand 
years, no foreign power ever has succeeded to rule over Germany, 
such is the resistive power of the German people to guard its national 
existence. The tyrants who swayed over them were of their own 
blood. But, to subdue German liberty, those tyrants were always 
23 * 


270 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


anxious to introduce foreign institutions. First, they swept away the 
ancient Germanic right,—this common law, so dear to the English and 
American, this eternal barrier against the encroachments of despotism, 
— and substituted for it the iron rule of the imperial Roman law. The 
rule of papal Rome over the minds of Germany crossed the mountains, 
together with the Roman law, and a spiritual dependency was to he 
established all over the world. The wings of the German eagle were 
bound, that it should not soar up to the sun of truth. But, when the 
oppression became too strong, the people of Germany rose against the 
power of Rome; — not the princes, though they, too, were oppressed, 
but the son of the miner of Eisenach, the poor friar Martin Luther, 
defied the Pope on his throne, and at his bidding the people of Ger¬ 
many proved that it is strong enough to shake off oppression, that it 
is worthy, and that it knows how to be free. And again, when the 
French, under their emperor, whose genius comprehended everything 
except freedom, extended their moral sway over Germany,—when the 
princes of Germany thronged around the foreign despot, begging 
kingly crowns from the son of the Corsican lawyer, with whom the 
emperors were happy to form matrimonial alliances — with the man 
who had no other ancestors than his genius,— then it was again the 
people which did not join in the degradation of its rulers, but, jealous 
to maintain their national independence, turned the foreigner out, 
though his name was Napoleon, and broke the yoke asunder, which 
weighed as heavily upon their princes as upon themselves. And still 
there are men in America who despair of the vitality of the Germans, 
of their indomitable power to resist oppression, of their love of freedom, 
and of their devotion to it, proved by a glorious history of two thou¬ 
sand years! The German race is a power the vitality and influence 
of which you can trace through the world’s history for two thousand 
years; you can trace it through the history of science and heroism, 
industry, and of bold, enterprising spirit. Your own country, your 
own national character, bear the mark of German vitality. [Applause.] 
Other nations, now and then, were great by some great men,— the 
German people was always great by itself. [Applause.] 

“ But the German princes cannot bear independence and liberty; 
they had rather themselves become slaves, the underlings of the Czar, 
than to allow that their people should enjoy some liberty. An alli¬ 
ance was therefore formed, which they blasphemously called the Holy 
Alliance, with the avowed purpose to keep the people down. The 
great powers guaranteed to the smaller princes — whose name is 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


271 


legion, for they are many—the power to fleece and to torment their 
people, and promised every aid to them against the insurrection of 
those who would find that for liberty’s sake it is worth while to risk 
their lives and property. It was an alliance for the oppression of the 
nations, not for the maintenance of the princely prerogative. When 
the Grand Duke of Baden, in a fit of liberality, granted his people the 
liberty of the press, the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia 
abolished the law, carried unanimously by the Legislature of Baden, 
and sanctioned by the prince. The Holy Alliance had guaranteed to 
the princes the power to oppress, but not the power to benefit, their 
people. 

“ But, though the great powers interfered often in the principalities 
and little kingdoms of Germany,— as often as the spirit of liberty 
awoke, —yet they avoided, themselves, every occasion which would have 
forced them to request the aid of their allies, and especially of Russia. 
They knew it too well, that to accept foreign aid against their own 
people was nothing else than to lose independence; it was morally the 
same as to kneel down before the Czar, and to take the oath of alle¬ 
giance. A government which cannot stand against its own people but 
by foreign aid, avows that it cannot stand without foreign aid. Take 
that foreign aid—interference ! — away, and it falb. 

“ The dynasties of Austria and Prussia were aware of this. They 
therefore yielded as often as their encroachments met a firm resist¬ 
ance from the people. When my nation so absolutely resisted, in 
1823, the attempt to abolish its constitution, Prince Metternich himself 
advised the Emperor Francis to yield, and even humbly to apologize 
to the Diet of 1825. The King of Prussia granted even a kind of 
constitution, rather than to claim the assistance of the Czar. Herein 
you can find the explanation of the fact that the continent of Europe is 
not yet republican. The spirit of freedom, when roused by oppression, 
was lulled into sleep by constitutional concessions. The Czar of 
Russia was well aware of the fact that this system of compromise 
prevents her interference into the domestic concerns of Europe, which 
would lead her to the sovereign mastership over all; she therefore did 
everything to push the sovereigns to extremities. But she did only 
succeed when, by a palace revolution in Vienna, a weak and cruel 
youth was placed on the throne of Austria, and a passionate woman 
got the reins of government in her hand, and an unprincipled, reckless 
adventurer was ready to carry out every imperial whim, regardless 
of the honor of his country and the interests of his master. Russia, at 


272 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


last, got her aim. Rather than to acknowledge the rights of Hungary, 
they bowed before the Czar, and gave up the independence of the 
Austrian throne; they became the underlings of a foreign power, 
rather than allow that one of the peoples of the European continent 
should become free. Since the fall of Hungary, Russia is the real 
sovereign of all Germany; for «the first time, Germany has a foreign 
master! and do you believe that Germany will bear that in the nine¬ 
teenth century which it never yet has borne,— bear that in its man¬ 
hood which it never has borne in its childhood 7 

“ Soon after, and through the fall of Hungary, the pride of Russia 
was humiliated. Austrian garrisons occupied Hamburg, Schleswig 
Holstein was abandoned, Hessia was chastised, and all that is dear to 
Germans purposely affronted. Their dreams of greatness, their long¬ 
ing for unity, their aspirations of liberty, were trampled down into the 
dust, and ridicule was thrown upon every elevation of mind, upon 
every revelation of patriotism. Hassenburg, convicted of forgery by 
the Prussian courts, became minister in Hessia; and once outlawed 
Schwarzenberg, and Bach, a renegade republican, ministers of Austria. 
The church-yard piece of oppression, which tyrants, under the' name 
of order, are trying to enforce upon the world, has for its guardians but 
outlawed reprobates, forgers, and renegades. [Applause.] Could you 
believe that with such elements the spirit of liberty can be crushed 7 
They know that, to habituate nations to oppression, the moral feeling 
of the people has to be killed. But could you really believe that the 
moral feeling of such a people as the German, stamped in the civiliza¬ 
tion of which it was one of the generating elements, can be killed, or 
that it can bear for a long while such an outrage 7 Do you think that 
the people which met the insolent bulls of the Pope in Rome by the 
Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War, and the numberless armies 
of Napoleon by a general rising, that this people will tamely submit 
to the Russian influence, more arrogant than the papal pretensions, 
more disastrous than the exactions of the French empire 7 They 
broke the power of Rome and of Paris ; will they agree to be governed 
by St. Petersburg 7 Those who are accustomed to see in history only 
the princes will say ay; but they forget that, since the Reformation, it 
is not more the princes who make the history, but the people ; they 
see the tops of the trees are bent by the powerful northern hurricane, 
and they forget that the stem of the tree is unmoved. Gentlemen, the 
German princes bow before the Czar, but the German people will never 
bow before him. [Applause.] 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


273 


“ Let me sum up the philosophy of the present condition of Germany 
in these few words : 1848 and 1849 have proved that the little tyrants 
of Germany cannot stand by themselves, but only by their reliance 
upon Austria and Prussia. These again cannot stand by themselves, 
but only by their reliance upon Russia. Take this reliance away, by 
maintaining the laws of nations against the principle of interference, 
and the joint powers of America and England can maintain them 
[applause]; and all the despotic governments, reduced to stand by 
their own resources of power, must fall before the never yet subdued 
spirit of the people of Germany, like rotten fruit touched by a gale. 
[Applause.] 

11 Let me now speak about the condition of my own dear native land. 
[Cheers and prolonged applause.] 

“I hope not to meet any contradiction when I say that no condi¬ 
tion can and will endure, which is so bad, so insupportable, that, by 
trying to change it, a people can lose nothing, and can gain everything. 
[Applause.] 

“ No condition can and will endure, the maintenance of which is 
contrary to every interest of every class. [Applause.] 

“ A revolution, on the contrary, is unavoidable, when every interest 
of every class wishes and requires it. [Applause.] 

“1 will first speak of the lowest, and still most powerful of all, of 
the material interest: 

“ There are some countries where, however insupportable be the 
condition of the masses, still the government has an ally in the mighty 
and influential class of bankers, who lend their money to support des¬ 
potism w T ith, and in those who invested their fortunes in the shares of 
these loans, negotiated by bankers, speculating upon and with the for¬ 
tunes of small capitalists. 

“ That class of men, partly tools of oppression, partly the fools of 
the tools [applause and laughter], exists not in Hungary. We have 
no such bankers in Hungary, and have but a very small, inconsidera¬ 
ble number of such who invested their fortunes in such loan shares. 
And even the few who have been playing in the fatal loan share gain 
have withdrawn from it, at every price, because they feared to lose 
all. From that quarter, therefore, the house of Austria has no ally in 
Hungary. 

“ As to the former aristocracy, a class influential by its connections, 
and by its large landed property, you remember that, when I suc¬ 
ceeded to abolish the feudal charges, and converted millions of my 


274 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


countrymen, of different religion and different language, out of lease¬ 
holders into free landed proprietors, we guaranteed an indemnification 
to the land-owners for what they lost. 

“ From a farm of about thirty-five to fifty acres of land, the farmer 
had to work one hundred and two days a year for the land-owner, give 
him the ninth part of all his crops, half a dollar in ready money, besides 
particular fees for shop-keeping, brewery, mill, &c. We have freed 
the people from all the incumbrances: and, thanks to God, that benefit 
never more can be torn from the people’s hands ! [Applause, and cries 
of 1 Good! good! ’] The aristocracy consented to it, because we had 
guaranteed full indemnification for it. The very material existence of 
this class of former land-owners is depending from that indemnification, 
to defray with it their debts, which they formerly had the habit wan¬ 
tonly to contract, and to provide for the cultivation of their own large 
allodial property, which they formerly cultivated by the hands of their 
lease-holders, but now have to invest a capital into. 

“Now, this indemnification, amounting to one hundred millions of 
dollars, the house of Austria never can realize. You know, with its 
centralized government, which is always very expensive, with its 
standing army of six hundred thousand men the only support of its 
precarious existence, with its army of spies and secret police, with its 
system of corruption and robbery, with its fourteen hundred millions 
of debt, with its eternal deficit in its current expenditures, with its 
new loans to pay the interest of the old, and with the certainty of an 
unavoidable bankruptcy, this indemnification Austria never can pay 
to the former aristocracy of Hungary. The only means to get this 
indemnification is the restoration of Hungary to its independence by a 
new revolution. [Applause.] 

“Independent Hungary can pay it, because it has no debts, will 
want no large standing armies, and will have a cheap administration ; 
because not centralized, but municipal, the people governing itself in 
and through municipalities, the cheapest of all governments. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

“Hungary has already pointed out the fund out of which that 
indemnification can and will be paid, without any imposition upon the 
people, and any loss to the commonwealth. Hungary has large state 
lands, belonging to and administered by the commonwealth. I have 
mathematically proved that the landed property of the state, sold in 
small parcels to those who have yet no land, connected with a banking 
operation founded upon that very reality, to facilitate the payment of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


2-75 


the price, is more than sufficient to pay that indemnification ; besides, 
a small land-tax, which the new owners of that immense property, 
divided into small farms, will have to pay, as other land proprietors, 
will yield more revenue to the commonwealth than all the proceeds of 
domestic administration. [Applause.] 

“This my proposition, having been submitted to the National 
Assembly, has been accepted and approved, and has attached to the 
revolution the numerous class of farm laborers who have not yet their 
own farms, and who contemplate with the liveliest joy this benevolent 
provision, which Austria can never execute, because, financially ruined 
as she is, she cannot be contented either with the tax revenue or the 
banking arrangement, to defray the indemnification; she sells the 
stock whenever she can find a man to buy it. 

“ But here is a remarkable fact, proving how little is the future 
of Austria contemplated to be sure even by its votaries. Whoever is 
willing to sell a landed property in Hungary, foreign bankers, Aus¬ 
trian capitalists, buy it readily at an enormous price, because they 
know that private transactions will be respected by our revolution; 
but from the government nobody buys a single acre of land, because 
every man knows that such a transaction must be considered void. 
[Applause.] Nay, more, not even as a gift is accepted by whomever 
an estate from the present government. Haynau himself was offered 
in reward a large landed property by the government; he did not 
accept, but preferred a comparatively small sum of money, not amount¬ 
ing to one-tenth of the value of the offered land, and he bought from a 
private individual a landed property for the money, because, that being 
a private transaction, is sure to stand; whereas in the future of the 
Austrian government in Hungary not even its Haynaus have confi¬ 
dence ! [Prolonged applause and cheers.] 

“The manufacturing interests anxiously wish and must wish a 
revolution, because manufacturing industry is entirely ruined now by 
Austria. Every favor, encouragement and aid, which the national 
government imparted by industry, is not only withdrawn, but substi¬ 
tuted by the old system, the tendency of which is neither to allow 
Hungary free trade,—to buy manufactured articles where they can be 
had in the best quality, or at the cheapest price,— nor to permit man¬ 
ufacturing at home, but to conserve Hungary in the position of a colo¬ 
nial market, a condition always regarded as insupportable, and suffi¬ 
cient motive for a revolution, as you yourself, out of your own history, 
know. [Applause and cheers.] 


276 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“The commercial interest anxiously desire a revolution, because 
there exists, in fact, no active commerce in Hungary, the Hungarian 
commerce being degraded into a mere brokership of Vienna. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

“ All those who have yet in their hands the Hungarian bank-notes, 
issued by my government, must wish a revolution, because Austria, 
alike foolish as criminal, has declared them out of value,— thus they 
cannot be restored to value but by a revolution. The amount of those 
bank-notes in the hands of the people is yet about twenty millions of 
dollars. No menaces, no cruelty, can induce the people to give it up 
to the usurper; they put it into bottles, and bury it in the earth. 
[Applause.] They say it is good money when Kossuth comes home. 
[Cheers and prolonged applause.] But, while no menaces of Austria 
can induce the people to give up this treasure of our impending revo¬ 
lution, a single line of mine sent home is obeyed, and the money is 
treasured up where I have designated. [Applause.] 

“ Do you now understand, gentlemen, by what motive I say that, 
once at home, once our struggle engaged, I do not want your material 
aid, and neither wish nor would accept all your millions; but that I 
want your material aid to get home, and to get home in such a way 
as will inspire confidence in my people, by seeing me bring home the 
only thing wdiich it has not — arms ! [Enthusiastic applause.] 

“ But, I am asked, where will I land ? That, of course, I will not 
say; — perhaps directly at Vienna, in a Montgolfier, in a balloon 
[laughter and applause],— but one thing I may say, because that is 
no secret: remember that all Italy is a sea-coast, and remember that 
Italy has the same enemy which Hungary has ; that Italy is the left 
wing of that army of which Hungary is the right wing, and that in 
Italy forty thousand Hungarian soldiers [applause] exist, as also, in 
general, in the Austrian army one hundred and sixty thousand [ap¬ 
plause] Hungarians exist. More I cannot and will not say, upon the 
subject. [Applause.] 

“ But I will say that all the amount of taxation the people of Hun¬ 
gary formerly had to pay was but four and a half million dollars,—now 
it has to pay sixty-five million dollars; that land-owners offer their 
land to the government, only to get rid of the land-tax, larger than 
all the revenue; that we have raised yearly six hundred thousand 
hundred weight of tobacco,—now the monopoly of tobacco being intro¬ 
duced, the people does not more smoke, and has burnt its tobacco- 
seed. [Applause, and cries of ‘Good! good! 5 ] We have raised 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


277 


one hundred and twenty million gallons of wine. [A voice in the 
crowd, ‘Good!’ Laughter and prolonged applause.] Gentlemen, 
I come not to interfere with the domestic concerns of America. [Ap¬ 
plause.] I have no opinion about the Maine liquor law. [Applause.] 
For myself, I am very fond of water. [Laughter and applause, with 
cries of 1 Good ! ’] But still I may say it is my opinion it will be 
many years before the Maine liquor law through all Europe will pass. 
[Prolonged applause and enthusiastic cheers.] Well, gentlemen, as I 
was about to say, one-half of the vineyards are cut down. Hundred 
thousands live upon horticulture and fruit cultivation; the trees are 
cut down to escape the heavy taxation laid upon them. The stamp 
tax is introduced, the most insupportable to free men; village from 
village, town from town, city from city, is divided by custom lines; 
the poor peasant woman bringing a dozen of eggs to the market has 
to pay the tax of consumption before she is permitted to enter; and 
when she brings medicine home for her sick child, she has again to pay 
before permitted to enter her home. [Cries of ‘ Shame ! ’] 

“And, besides this material oppression, and the daily and nightly 
vexations connected with it,— the Protestants deprived of the self- 
government of their church and school, for which they have thrice 
taken up arms victoriously in three centuries; the Roman Catholics 
deprived of the security of their church property; the people of every 
race deprived of its nationality, because there exists no public life 
where to exert it; no national existence, no constitution, no munici¬ 
palities, no domestic law, no domestic officials, no security of person and 
of property, but arbitrary power, martial law, and the hangman and 
the jail; — and on the other side, Hungarian patriotism, Hungarian 
honor, Hungarian heroism, Hungarian vitality, stamped in the vicis¬ 
situdes of a thousand years, and the consciousness that we have 
beaten Austria when we had no army, no money, no friends, and the 
knowledge that now we have an army, and for home purposes have 
money in the safe-guarded bank-notes, and have America for a friend 
[applause], and, in addition to all this, the confidence of my people in 
my exertions, and the knowledge of these exertions, of which my peo¬ 
ple is quite as well informed as yourself,— nay, more, because it sees 
and knows what I do at home, whereas you see but what I do here. 
[Applause.] Well, if with all this you still doubt about the struggle 
in Europe being nigh, and still despair of its chances of success, then 
God be merciful to my poor brains, I know not what to think! [Ap¬ 
plause.] 


24 


278 


KOSSUTn IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“ Some take me here for a visionary. Curious, indeed, if that man 
who, a poor son of the people, has abolished an aristocracy of a thou¬ 
sand years old, created a treasury of millions out of nothing, an army 
out of nothing, and directed a revolution so as to fix the attention of 
the whole world upon Hungary, and has beaten the old, well-provided 
power of Austria, and crushed its future by his very fall, and, forsaken, 
abandoned, alone, sustained a struggle against two empires, and made 
himself in his very exile feared by czars and emperors, and trusted by 
foreign nations as well as his own,— if that man be a visionary, then 
for so much pride I may be excused, that I would like to look face to 
face into the eyes of a practical man on earth! [Cheers and prolonged 
applause.] * 

“ Gentlemen, I had many things yet to say. [Cries of £ Go on! ’ 
‘ Take your time ! ’] Gentlemen, the condition, change and prospects, 
of Europe, are not spoken of so easily, as you have seen, when only 
the condition of my own country is touched. I don’t know that I 
shall succeed, but I will try to say something about Turkey. [Cries 
of 1 Go on, as long as you please ! ’] 

“ Turkey, which deserves your sympathy because it is the country 
of municipal institutions, the country of religious toleration! [Ap¬ 
plause.] Turkey, when it extended its sway over Transylvania and 
half of Hungary, never interfered with the way in which the inhab¬ 
itants chose to govern themselves; she allowed even those who 
lived within her dominions to collect there the taxes voted by inde¬ 
pendent Hungary, with the aim to make war against the Porte. 
Whilst in the other parts of Hungary Protestantism was oppressed 
by the Austrian policy, and the Protestants several times compelled 
to take up arms for the defence of religious liberty, in Transylvania, 
under the sovereignty of the Porte, the Unitarians got political rights, 
and Protestantism grew up under the protecting wings of the Ottoman 
power. 

“ The respect for municipal institutions is so deeply rooted in the 
minds of the Turks, that at the time when they became masters of the 
Danubian provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, they voluntarily 
excluded themselves from all political rights in the newly-acquired 
provinces; and, up to the present day, they do not allow that a mosque 
should be built, that a Turk should dwell and own landed property 
across the Danube. They do not interfere with the taxation or with 
the internal administration of these provinces; and the last organic 
law of the empire, the Tanzimat, is nothing but the re-declaration of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


279 


the rights of municipalities, guaranteeing them against the centralizing 
encroachment of the Pachas. Whilst Czar Nicholas is about to con¬ 
vert the Protestant population of Livonia and Esland, by force and by 
alluring promises, to the Greek Church, the liberal Sultan Abdul 
Medjid grants full religious liberty to all sects of Protestantism. But 
we are accustomed to look upon Turkey as upon a third-rate power, 
only because, in 1828, it was defeated by Russia. Let us now see 
how the balance stood at that time, and how it stands now. 

“ In 1828 the Turkish population was full of hatred and discontent, 
on account of the extermination of the Janissaries. 

“ The Christian population was ready to rise against the govern¬ 
ment, on account of the events of the Greek war. 

“Albania was in revolt, because it was opposed to the system of 
conscriptions for regular military service. Anatolia was discontented 
on the same ground. Mehemet Ali possessed Egypt, and paralyzed 
the action of the government in Arabia and Syria. Servia had just 
laid down arms, but had not yet concluded peace. The Danubian 
principalities, though unfavorable to Russia, were not hearty in support 
of the Porte, and remained apathetic under the occupation of Russia. 

“ The revenue did not exceed four hundred millions of piastres 
(twenty million dollars), and was insufficient for a second campaign. 

“ The new army was not yet organized, and amounted only to 
thirty-two thousand men, without tried generals. The fleet was 
destroyed at Navarino. The foreign diplomatists had left the empire, 
and the capital was exposed to an attack of the enemy. 

“ In such a position, no European government could have risked a 
war. 

“ Russia had just defeated Persia, and got by this victory access to 
the Asiatic provinces of the Turkish empire, which had, therefore, to 
defend its frontiers on both sides. 

“ Russia had not yet entered into Circassia, and could therefore 
rally all her forces. She had not yet abolished the Poland of 1815, 
and could leave it without garrisons. She had not yet roused the 
hatred or the jealousies of Europe. She had engaged all the natural 
allies of the Porte into a combination for rousing the populations of her 
enemy ; and she got by her diplomacy the possibility of bringing her 
fleet into the Mediterranean, for blockading the ports of Turkey, and 
Navarino opened for her the Black Sea, where she had thirteen men- 
of-war. 

“ Not disturbed by the Porte, by Circassia, by Poland, by France, 


280 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


or by England, she had prepared two years for this war; whilst her 
enemy, passing through a terrible crisis, was without money, without 
ji organized army, without a fleet, without other resources than the 
jeble Mussulman population on the seat of war. 

“ Twenty-four years have altered the balance. Turkey has now 
the enthusiastic support of her Mussulman population. The Christian 
population, with the only exception of Bulgaria, partakes of this enthu¬ 
siasm. All the warlike tribes, from Albania to Kurdistan, are now 
supporting the authority of the Sultan. Mehemet Ali is gone ; Ara¬ 
bia and Syria are again under the dominion of the Sultan. Servia 
has made peace, and has become the support of Turkey, offering her, 
in case of a Russian war, eighty thousand men. The principalities 
have become the enemies of Russia; they had too long to suffer from 
her oppression. The public revenue has doubled. Turkey has organ¬ 
ized a regular army of two hundred thousand men, equal to any other; 
and, besides, the militia. She has distinguished generals — Omer 
Pasha, Guyon. Her fleet is equal to the Russian fleet in the Black 
Sea, and her steam-fleet superior to the Russian. She has, for allies, 
all the people from the Caucasus to the Carpathians ; the Circassians, 
the Tartars, under Emir Mirza, and the Cossacks of the Dobroja, by 
whom the electric shock is transmitted to Poland and Hungary, form 
an unbroken chain, by which the spark is carried into the heart of 
Europe, where all the combustible elements wait for the moment of 
explosion. Twenty-four years ago, Turkey was believed to be in a 
decaying state; it is now stronger than it has been for the last hun¬ 
dred years. 

“ Russia, during this time, was unable to overcome the resistance 
of Circassia; and, cut off from her south-eastern provinces, she can¬ 
not attack Turkey in the rear. The Caucasian lines furnished her, in 
1828, with thirty thousand men, Poland with one hundred thousand; 
the two countries require now an army of observation and occupation 
of two hundred thousand men; the Danubian principalities absorb 
again fifty thousand. 

“The Russian fleet in the Black Sea remains as it w T as in 1828,— 
thirteen men-of-war then, thirteen now; and, whilst in 1828 she had 
scarcely an enemy in Europe, she has now scarcely one friend, except 
the kings ; and all her enemies, whom she has defeated, one by one, 
have combined against her,— Poland, Hungary, the Danubian princi¬ 
palities, Turkey, Circassia. 

“ Where is now the force of Russia ? Does she not remind us of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


281 


the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, standing on feet of clay? [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

“ And yet, gentlemen, that Russia can make doubtful the struggle 
in Europe,— not because powerful in arms, but dangerous because it 
stands ready to support tyrants, when nations are tired out in a 
struggle, or before they have time to make preparations for resistance, 
— then is Russia only a power to be feared. Well, gentlemen, shall 
America stand up, with its powerful voice, and forbid, when nations 
have shaken off their domestic tyrants, that Russia shall interfere ? 
Gentlemen, remember that Peter the Czar left a testament to the peo¬ 
ple, that Russia^ must take Constantinople. Why? That Russia might 
be a great power; and, that it may be, Constantinople is necessary, 
because no nation can be a great power which is not a maritime power. 
Now, see how Turkey has grown in twenty-four years. The more 
Russia delays, the stronger Turkey becomes ; and therefore is Russia 
in haste to fulfil the destiny to become a maritime power. 

“ You can see why is my fear that this week, or this month, or this 
year, Russia will attack Turkey, and we shall not be entirely prepared; 
but though you do not give us 1 material aid,’ still must we rise when 
Turkey is attacked, because we must not lose its forty thousand sol¬ 
diers. The time draws nigh when you will see more the reason I have 
to hasten these preparations [applause], that they may be fulfilled, 
when, through the death of Nicholas or Louis Napoleon,— a thousand 
other things, or most probably a war between Russia and Turkey,— we 
may take time by the —hair — is that the word? — [Applause. A 
voice from the crowd, ‘ Forelock.’] Yes, gentlemen, forelock. [Ap¬ 
plause.] But I can’t help it. Indeed, I have a little faith sometimes 
that strange spirits speak out of me, so little English I know. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

“ But, gentlemen, let me close. I am often told, let only the time 
come when the republican banner is unfurled in the Old World, then 
we shall see what America will do. [Applause. Cries of 1 Yes.’] 
Well, gentlemen, your aid may come too late to be rendered beneficial. 
Remember ’48 and ’49. Had the nations of Europe not your sympa¬ 
thy? [Applause.] Were your hearts less generous than now? It 
was not in time,—it came after, not before. Was your government 
not inclined to recognize nations ? It sent Mr. Mann to Hungary to 
inquire,— would that when he inquired he had been authorized to 
recognize our achieved independence ! 

24* 


282 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


“ Gentlemen, let me end. Before all, let me thank you for your 
generous patience in having listened so long to a bad speech. It is 
another of the generous manifestations of sympathy I have met here 
in Massachusetts and in Boston. [Applause.] 

“ This is my last meeting. Whatever may he my fate, so much I 
can say, that the name of Boston and Massachusetts will remain a dear 
word and a dear name, not only to me hut to my people, for all time. 
And, whatever my fate, I will, with the last breath of my life, raise 
the prayer to God that he may bless you, and bless your city, and bless 
your country, and bless all your land, for all the coming time and to 
the end of time; that your freedom and prosperity may still develop 
and grow and progress from day to day; and that one glory should he 
added to the glory which you already have,— the* glory that America, 
republican America, may unite with her other principles the principle 
of Christian brotherly love among the family of nations; and so may 
she become the corner-stone of liberty on earth! That is my farewell 
word to you.” [Cheers and enthusiastic applause.] 

When Kossuth took his seat, a universal call was made for Pulszky. 
He stepped upon the platform, and said the general had marked out 
the plan of the campaign. He was only a common soldier. When 
the time for action came, he would be found at his post. [Applause.] 

When Mr. Pulszky took his seat, there was a rush towards the 
platform, and a hundred hands were extended to Kossuth, pleading to 
be shaken, and hundreds more were waiting to be extended; but Kos¬ 
suth was so much fatigued that the officers of the meeting begged the 
people to excuse him. When he was conducted through the hall, the 
highest enthusiasm prevailed; and the crowd at the door was so great 
that the committee, himself and suite, were obliged to remain in the 
ante-chamber for a considerable length of time, until the people had 
dispersed. Thus ended the last Kossuth meeting in Boston. 


THE KOSSUTH COMMITTEE. 

After his speech on the condition of Europe, Kossuth made no 
further public appearance in Boston, but spent a few days in receiving 
deputations and private visiters. The result of some of the conferences 
which he held during these days is stated in the following circular: 



KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


283 


To the Public. —At a meeting held in Boston, May 17, 1852, 
of gentlemen friendly to the cause of Hungary and of freedom and 
republicanism in Europe, the undersigned were constituted a commit¬ 
tee to raise a fund for the promotion of that cause, and were instructed 
to lay before the public the following declaration of their aims and 
purposes. 

From statements confidentially made to them by Governor Kossuth, 
of his operations, agencies and prospects, the committee do not hesitate 
to express their conviction — 

That the course of events in Hungary and other parts of Europe 
is rapidly tending towards a revolution, having for its object the estab¬ 
lishment of republican institutions; a revolution not created by indi¬ 
vidual effort,— not the result of machinations, agitation or conspiracy, 
but springing from the natural and inevitable impulses of an oppressed 
but high-spirited population; a revolution, the movement towards 
which Governor Kossuth and his coadjutors have, at this moment, 
much more difficulty in restraining from untimely outbreak than in 
urging on: 

That when the proper time arrives, which will be at no distant 
period, the existence of certain means in the hands of Governor Kos¬ 
suth, or at his control, will be of the most effectual service in enabling 
him to assume such a position as will be essential to the success of his 
cause, and consequently to the speedy establishment of a lasting peace 
in Europe, without any — or with the least possible — effusion of 
human blood. 

To assist Governor Kossuth in procuring these essential means, the 
committee propose to raise, by voluntary subscription among the 
people, a fund, to be disposed of in the following manner : — 

The money contributed shall remain in the hands of the committee, 
subject to no demand or control whatever, except that of Governor 
Kossuth. At the suggestion, however, of Governor Kossuth, who is 
desirous to give to the public the greatest possible security that the 
money contributed shall be used only in a proper and efficient way, 
the committee engage that none of the money shall be expended except 
for specific purposes, which meet their approbation, and appear to 
them practicable and reasonable, not contrary to the laws or interests 
of the United States, and calculated to advance the cause of freedom 
in Europe. 

When Governor Kossuth shall apply to the committee for the whole 
or any portion of the fund, it shall be expended under his direction, or 


284 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


that of his Authorized agents, provided the purpose or purposes for 
which it is wanted are satisfactorily explained and justified to the com¬ 
mittee, or to a sub-committee chosen by them; but, without such 
explanation, none of the money shall be expended. 

In case of the death of Governor Kossuth, or of his obvious inabil¬ 
ity to employ the fund for its intended purposes, it shall be disposed 
of as the committee may deem proper under the circumstances. 

The committee have received*from Governor Kossuth the following 
note, containing his sanction to their proposed proceedings : 


“ Gentlemen : Departing from the State of Massachusetts, I leave 
the interests of the cause which I plead — the cause of civil and 
religious liberty in Europe — in the hands of you, who possess my full 
confidence. To your fostering care I intrust the sympathy which has 
greeted me over all the classical ground of your state, and I trust that 
your generous zeal will find means to turn this sympathy into practical 
account for the cause of freedom. I hope that your committee will, to 
this end, become the centre of action for New England, and, if possi¬ 
ble, for the Union. A cause advocated by such men as you, gentle¬ 
men, cannot fail to be successful. L. Kossuth. 

11 Boston, Mass., May 18, 1852.” 


As soon as practicable, the committee will establish agencies wherever 
it may be deemed expedient. These will be announced hereafter. 
Meantime, they respectfully invite those who are disposed to assist in 
the formation of the fund to forward their contributions, by mail or 
otherwise, to Stephen 0. Phillips, Salem; to Dr. Samuel G. Howe, 
Boston; or to William A. White, No. 2 Thorndike’s Building, State- 
street, Boston. In return for contributions of not less than one dol¬ 
lar, Hungarian bonds will be sent, if desired. 

Stephen C. Phillips, Charles C. Hazewell, 

John B. Alley, Erastus Hopkins, 

N. P. Banks, Jr., Samuel G. Howe, 

Z. D. Basset, Myron Lawrence, 

Anson Burlingame, William A. White, 

Robert Carter, Henry Wilson. 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


285 


DEPARTURE OF KOSSUTH FROM MASSACHUSETTS. 

Kossuth and suite left Boston Tuesday morning, May 18, at eight 
o’clock, in the regular train for Albany, -where great preparations 
were made to receive him. He was accompanied by Horace E. Smith, 
Esq., of the Legislative Committee, Adjutant General Stone, and Col. 
Needham, of the Governor’s Staff. A large company assembled at 
the Worcester depot to bid him farewell. The Commonwealth says : 
“ The parting scene was no matter of mere ceremony, but showed that 
during his brief stay with us Kossuth has won a place in the very 
heart of hearts of the best men among us.” 

The car which bore away the illustrious guest of the state was 
beautifully and appropriately decorated, bearing on either side the 
words “ Cradle of Liberty,” and having a gilded eagle at each end, 
with the name of “Kossuth” beneath it. Both within and without, 
the car was adorned with flowers and flags. As the engine started, 
three hearty cheers arose, and Kossuth bowed his farewell to Boston 
and Massachusetts. 

At Pittsfield Kossuth was met by a committee, at the head of which 
was Hon. Henry II. Childs, and conducted to a platform, where he 
was received by an immense concourse of people, and presented with 
two cases containing eighty muskets. 

He arrived at Albany at four o’clock, p. M., and was met at the 
landing on the Hudson by the secretary of state, the mayor, and 
other state and city dignitaries, and by an immense crowd of citizens. 
Here the Massachusetts State Committee took their leave of him. 




APPENDIX. 


MR. HAZEWELL’S REPORT ON INTERVENTION. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In Senate, March 13th, 1852. 

The Special Joint Committee to whom was referred so much of the 
Address of His Excellency the Governor as relates to intervention 
in the affairs of Europe 

REPORT: 

That they have given the subject that careful and candid consider¬ 
ation which its importance demands, with the hope of being enabled so 
to treat it as to command the approbation of the people of Massachu¬ 
setts for their labors. They did not enter upon those labors without 
being aware that they would have to encounter, on the part of some, 
prejudices in favor of a policy different from what they believe should 
now be pursued by the American nation, and which policy has been 
so identified with the name of Washington,— though it really originated 
in the necessities of the times that saw its birth, and would have 
marked our early course as a nation had Washington never lived,— 
that it requires some effort to speak of it as we all have the right to 
speak of things that belong to the past. Nor were they ignorant that 
in the fear of many exists a formidable objection to the adoption of a 
more manly and liberal foreign policy by the United States than has 
heretofore been pursued. It is by many taken for granted that an 
expression of opinion on the part of the American nation in support 
of “intervention to maintain non-intervention” would necessarily lead 
to war between that nation and the absolute powers of Europe; and, 
therefore, they would not have even the government of one of the 
states say anything which might be offensive to the rulers of countries 
with which the republic is at peace. The power of the Russian Czar, 
being palpable in its character, and comprehensible by the lowest 
capacity, exerts over the minds of this class of people an influence, the 
exis tence of which is, to the minds of the committee, one of the strongest 
reasons why all independent communities should prepare themselves 
for that combat between the principle of freedom and' the principle of 
despotism which is “ inevitable,” if the history of the past affords any 
indication of what is to be the history of the future. The very fact 



288 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


that such fear of Russia exists among us is sufficient evidence that we 
are not without the sphere of Russian influence. The question of 
intervention apart, and supposing that the political condition of Europe 
were to remain undisturbed for a generation, there are various ways 
through which we may be brought into difficulties with that nation, 
which 5 has doubled its population since the commencement of our own 
national life, and the influence of which overshadows all Europe,— 
that influence being ever exerted in behalf of despotism, the political 
principle most opposite to that which animates the American people. 

There are those who object to any action on the part of the Legis¬ 
latures of the states having reference to matters especially within the 
province of the general government. The management of all our in¬ 
tercourse with foreign powers is confided to the general government, 
whose action, it is inferred, will be embarrassed by what is called the 
4 ‘interference” of the states in matters with which they have no im¬ 
mediate concern. This objection is entitled to but little respect. 
For more than sixty years — from the time that the French revo¬ 
lution was commenced until now — it has been the custom of the people 
of the states to express their sentiments on foreign affairs. The man¬ 
ner in which the authorities of some of the states acted towards the 
French revolutionists shows that in what are commonly considered 
the best days of the republic, and before the neutrality policy was 
avowedly adopted by the general government, public men in the states 
deemed it a duty to sympathize with the friends of freedom in other 
lands; and it is known that in so doing they represented the sentiments 
of the great body of the people. Nor is there any evidence that the 
leaders of the anti-revolutionary party in Europe ever took offence at 
such proceedings on the part of our predecessors. It may be said 
that our insignificance as a nation down to the occurrence of the second 
war with Great Britain rendered the action of Americans with refer¬ 
ence to foreign affairs, so far as the individual states were concerned, 
of small consequence to those powers which carried on wars of opinion 
with millions of men in the field; whereas now, when the United 
States constitute one of the great nations of the earth, with a military 
character thoroughly established, and means of offence at their control 
second to none, the action of the least of their number should be more 
wary and cautious than ever, in order that no umbrage be given to 
countries with whom we have commercial relations, the disturbance of 
which would be productive of injury to great interests. This is to say 
that we should abide by a selfish policy from motives of mere interest, 
and that in proportion as we become wealthy and powerful we should 
refrain from acts which can receive importance only from those who 
engage in them possessing wealth and power. It is making but a 
poor return for the immense blessings which we enjoy, to declare, by 
acts, if not by words, that precisely because of our enjoyment of those 
blessings wo will in no way assist any other people to obtain them. 
That prosperity hardens the hearts of men, and makes them less 
capable or less willing to assist their unfortunate brethren, is among 


APPENDIX. 


289 


those melancholy truths which philosophy asserts, and which is con¬ 
firmed by the experience and observation of almost every individual; 
but it is reserved for our own time to see the same principle inculcated 
openly as forming the very essence of wisdom in the intercourse be¬ 
tween nation and nation. Though nations have too often acted on a 
principle so selfish, they have had the grace to affect to cover their 
proceedings with the veil of expediency, or some other of those cover¬ 
ings which men throw over deeds the naked deformity of which shocks 
even the most heedless of minds. As it is the duty — however ill- 
performed on many occasions — of the powerful and the wealthy among 
individuals to assist the weak and the poor, so is it the duty of great 
nations to aid other nations to maintain their rights. Either this is so, 
or there must be a different code of morality to regulate intercourse 
between nation and nation from that which, in theory at least, regu¬ 
lates intercourse between man and man. If it is our duty as individu¬ 
als to protect the weak against the oppression of the strong, how can 
we consistently assert that it is not the duty of a nation to protect 
another nation against the attacks of a tyrant who knows no other 
law than his own will, and whose mandate is sufficient, when unresisted, 
to cause the destruction of entire families, to extinguish national life, 
and to give up fertile lands and opulent cities to all the horrors of 
military execution ? If it is the duty of man, as an individual, not 
merely to respect the weakness of woman, but to protect her against 
the assaults of the vicious, at whatever hazard to himself, how much 
more important, because more comprehensive, must be the duty of 
men in communities to make use of all the power which God has con¬ 
ferred upon them to combat the oppressor who outrages all those 
chivalrous sentiments which constitute the greatest security of the one 
sex and the greatest glory of the other, by letting loose upon a refined 
and cultivated community barbarian hordes, one of the motives of 
whose action is the unrestricted license which shall reward their exer¬ 
tions in the field ! If-it is the duty of a great nation to encourage the 
progress of civilization in every way, can we deny that it is also its 
duty to prevent a half-savage power, possessed of vast strength, from 
trampling out the lights of civilization in other countries, which have 
given to it no cause of offence, but which were disposed rather to 
defer to it, to deprecate its hostility in every way ? If it is our duty 
to relieve the poor and to comfort the afflicted, is it not also our duty 
— our power being equal to the task — to prevent innocent nations 
from being turned into vast collections of paupers ? The responsibility 
of a nation cannot be gravely pronounced less than that of the least 
of the individuals who go to make it up as a whole; and no man pre¬ 
tends to say that we are not bound, as individuals, to aid the victims 
of tyranny everywhere. In point of fact, our national government 
has already interfered in the quarrel between the Hungarians and 
their oppressors of the imperial houses of Austria and Romanoff. 
When its influence was used to procure the release of Kossuth, though 
his detention was urged by Austria and Russia upon the Sultan, it 
25 


290 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


took part in that quarrel; and not less pointed was its interference 
when it sent the national armed steamship Mississippi to convey him 
and his suite to this country. It matters not that it is said now that 
that ship was sent merely to bring him and his family and attendants 
to the United States. The government knew that its action would be 
interpreted by both parties in Europe into an expression of its own 
sympathy, and that of the American nation, with the Hungarians. As 
such it was regarded; and no other interpretation could be placed upon 
it by men possessed of a competent knowledge of the condition of 
Europe at that time. But for the interference of the governments of 
Great Britain and the United States, Louis Kossuth would at this 
moment have been a prisoner in Asia Minor, for the threat of annihi¬ 
lation was held out to the Sultan, should he free his guest; and nothing 
but the u intervention” of England and America (which the former 
power was ready to back up with her invincible fleets) prevented that 
threat from being executed. That act of “ intervention” was regarded 
in every town and village of Hungary as an act in favor of the cause 
of that country; and justly so regarded, for the liberation of Kossuth 
was the commencement of that great system of agitation which is des¬ 
tined to change the condition of the world. 

The committee do not recommend the expression of any such sen¬ 
timents on the part of the Legislature as may lead to the belief that 
Massachusetts is desirous that the general government should enter 
upon a crusade for the establishment of peculiar political principles in 
any part of the world. They are not prepared to say how far the 
doctrine of intervention should be applied, though it is sufficiently 
clear to them that cases have already occurred which would have 
justified the armed intervention of the United States in the affairs of 
Europe. They could have justly interfered to prevent the destruction 
of the Hungarian nation, in 1849, when it was assailed — causelessly, 
and in violation of the laws of nations — by the Czar of Russia. 
Hungary was an old country. Her constitution had had an existence 
for centuries. In the early part of the sixteenth century the throne 
of that country was ascended by a member of the house of Hapsburgh, 
the same monarch who, at a later day, became Emperor of Germany, 
under the title of Ferdinand L, and chief of the German branch of the 
dynasty to which he belonged. There is no better established his¬ 
torical fact than this, namely, that from the early part of the sixteenth 
century until now, one of the objects which the house of Austria has 
had most at heart, which it has steadily kept in view, and from which 
neither fear nor gratitude has ever for a moment diverted its attention, 
has been the overthrow of the constitution of Hungary. No means 
have been left unattempted to accomplish that end. Cruelties the 
most shocking, and such as, if they were not attested by the most 
unimpeachable evidence, could not be believed, have been resorted to 
in the hope of effecting it. In the hope of success in the same end, 
the most solemn oaths, the most positive obligations, have been disre¬ 
garded. Sometimes threats and force, and at others intrigue and 


APPENDIX. 


291 


fraud, have been the means resorted to by the Austrian family to bring 
the kingdom of Hungary within that system of centralization which 
has proved so fatal to the liberties of more than one European country. 
A third means has been the apparent adoption of liberal legislation by 
the most despotically-inclined ruling family in Europe, so that at one 
time an impression prevailed very generally in this country that the 
Hungarians were obstinately contending against the exertions of the 
imperial and royal house to meliorate the condition of the majoritv of 
the people in the ancient kingdom of Hungary. 

It has never been contended, by the most ardent friends of freedom 
and national rights, that the constitution of Hungary was perfect. It 
had great and grave defects, therein resembling every polity of which 
we have any knowledge. Like the English constitution, it was 
originally eminently aristocratical in its character; for it came into 
being at a period when the people, properly so called, had no political 
existence. Like the English constitution, however, it contained the 
principle of expansion ; and but for circumstances clearly beyond the 
power of the Hungarians to control, it is probable that freedom, 
regulated by law, would have become as decidedly pronounced in 
Hungary as it has long been in England. The fact that Hungary 
became the battle-ground on which the followers of the Cross struggled 
against those of the Crescent, in those wars which followed the 
establishment of the Turkish power in Europe, would alone be suf¬ 
ficient to account for the little advance which that country made 
between the date of the battle of Mohacz and the opening years of the 
last century; but, in addition to that, was the Austrian rule over the 
greater part of Hungary,— a rule most unfavorable to the establish¬ 
ment there of anything like civil or religious freedom. The national 
existence of Hungary, however, was maintained, as also were, in great 
part, her local institutions. Those institutions were obnoxious to the 
ruling dynasty, not because in some respects they may have borne 
hard upon the people, but for the reason that they alone prevented the 
Kings , W T ho were also Emperors of Germany, from establishing a 
despotism over Hungary. The Hungarians did not contend for the 
preservation of their peculiar polity because they believed it was per¬ 
fect in all its parts, or because they were averse to all improvement; 
but because it was regarded by them as a powerful barrier against the 
encroachments of that executive government which had so long, and 
with such steadiness and perseverance, sought to reduce them to a 
condition of political servitude, because through its existence alone 
could their nationality be preserved, their freedom maintained, and 
their hopes of future improvement continue to have a better foundation 
than the dreams of political visionaries or the good intentions of benev¬ 
olent despots. The Hungarians, in energetically defending their 
own polity, may not unfairly be compared to the English patriots of 
the seventeenth century, who contended with success against the 
Stuarts, when that family sought to change the polity of England. 
The Stuarts aimed as much at elevating the English people under 


292 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


their rule as the monarchs of the house of Austria have aimed at the 
elevation of the people of Hungary; but, in the one case, as in the 
other, the final result of royal success would have been the reduction 
of both high and low to a common condition of slavery. At the bar 
of history it has never been allowed that it should be pleaded in behalf 
of Strafford that his good government of Ireland was an offset to his 
intention to destroy the constitution of his country. The same justice 
should be observed in making up our estimate of the character of the 
disputes that have from time to time occurred between the Hungarians 
and the house of Austria, in which the latter has apparently , but not 
really , held the position of head of the liberal party in the kingdom 
of Hungary. We are bound to judge of the conduct of the Hungarian 
patriots in precisely the same way that we judge of the acts of John 
Hampden and Henry Vane,— by *its general intent and final objects. 

During the great political wars which were consequent on the 
French revolution, and into which Hungary was forced by the fact 
that the chief of the house of Austria was her king, the Hungarians 
were not able to make much advance in the path of constitutional 
improvement. They remained scrupulously faithful to their monarch, 
though it is known that Napoleon would have willingly erected their 
country into a kingdom which should have no connection with any 
country subject to the sway of the house of Hapsburgh-Lorraine. 
Though the wisdom of the Hungarians, in thus refusing to profit by 
the greatest opportunity ever offered them to rid themselves of the rule 
of a treacherous line, may well be doubted, their conduct speaks loudly 
in favor of the chivalrous generosity of their character. They were 
incapable of taking advantage of their sovereign’s distresses, and bore 
themselves towards him with the same loyal devotion that had charac¬ 
terized the conduct of their ancestors towards Maria-Theresa, then 
Queen of Hungary. That their loyalty, however, was not the result 
of a blind, fanatical regard for kings, is incontestably established by the 
fact that when Austria repudiated her debts, in 1812, the Hungarian 
Diet sternly refused to sanction such a breach of the public faith. 
This shows their deep-seated regard for pledges made by governments, 
upon the proper observance of which depends so largely the well-being 
of the world. It is an additional reason why the claims of the Hun¬ 
garians to solid assistance should be allowed by nations like Great 
Britain and the United States,— nations commercial in their character, 
and whose power and the happiness of whose people are greatly depend¬ 
ent upon the observance of public faith. 

The final fall of Napoleon, in 1815, having restored peace to the 
great absolute powers, the house of Austria renewed its attacks on the 
constitution of Hungary. This was in accordance with that system 
of reaction against liberal ideas that was favored by the parties to the 
Holy Alliance, and by thq princes and statesmen of the continent 
generally, between 1815 and 1830. But the possession of a consti¬ 
tution by the Hungarians, imperfect though it was, enabled them to 
baffle all the attempts of the Austrian house and cabinet to bring 


appendix. 


293 


them within the influence of the system of centralization. A contest 
ot the most important character was commenced between the Austrian 
party and the liberal party in Hungary. In 1832, so much progress 
had been made by the Hungarian liberals, that in the Diet which that 
year assembled they had a majority of the members of the Chamber 
ot Deputies. The Austrian party, on the other hand, controlled the 
executive branch of the government, and the majority of the Magnates 
were m its interest. This state of things prevented full reforms being 
made. That the peasants were not then emancipated, was owing to 
the ascendency of Austrian principles in two branches of the Hun¬ 
garian government. . But something was accomplished. Reform was 
commenced. The liberal party increased in strength. It combated 
with success against the champions of the old order of things, and 
Hungary was carried steadily forward in the course of constitutional 
improvement. In 184T, to borrow the language of one of the most 
illustrious of the Hungarian patriots,* 11 The opposition in the House 
of .Representatives, under the leadership of Kossuth, obtained a 
majority: the Magnates were almost equally divided, but the greatest 
share of talent was evidently on the side of the opposition, who were 
headed in the House of Magnates by Count Louis Batthyanyi. A 
general reform of the Hungarian constitution was in progress; the 
immunity from taxation enjoyed by the nobles was abolished, and the 
municipal institutions and representation of the towns were in course 
of revision, when the news arrived that the French revolution had 
broken out, and France had become a republic.” 

The occurrence of the French revolution of 1848 proved as unfor¬ 
tunate to Hungary as it has to all the rest of Europe, except Russia. 
It brought her, a strictly constitutional monarchy and averse to all 
violent proceedings, into the revolutionary current, and afforded to the 
Austrian government an opportunity for the overthrow of that consti¬ 
tution which had so long stood between it and the establishment of 
absolute rule over Hungary. It would be to consume too much time 
to go into a detail of the events that followed the revolution of 1848, 
so far as Hungary was concerned. Suffice it to say, that after a variety 
of negotiations with the Austrian government, in the course of which 
it had resort to its customary falsehood, the Hungarians were com¬ 
pelled to fight for their nationality and freedom. In the war that 
ensued, the Austrians, who had invaded Hungary in great masses, and 
w T hose triumph was expected as a matter of course throughout the 
world, were ignominiously beaten ; and the independence of Hungary 
became as well established a matter of fact as it was matter of right. 
Not the independence of the United States was more thoroughly estab¬ 
lished by the events of that campaign which ended in the capture of 
the British army at Yorktown, than was the freedom of Hungary 
secured, as against Austria , by the events of the campaign of the 
winter and spring of 1849. But for the intervention of Russia in her 


25 * 


Francis Pulszky. 


294 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


behalf, Austria would have ceased from that time to rule over Hun¬ 
gary ; and the intervention of the Czar Nicholas to reestablish her 
ascendency was as unjust as would have been the intervention of the 
Czarina Catherine II., in behalf of England, in the war of our Revo¬ 
lution, after events had demonstrated that without foreign aid England 
could no longer rule over her former colonies in North America. A 
Russian army entered Hungary, and by its conduct gave success to 
the revolutionary designs of the house of Austria. Hungary was 
overrun by more than one hundred thousand Russians, who inflicted 
upon her all the horrors of barbarian warfare, and whose cannon and 
sabres and bayonets turned the scale against the cause of right. 
Russian intervention, and that alone, enabled the cause of absolutism 
to come victorious out of the contest. Even the arms of Russia would 
not alone have been sufficient to that end, so energetic was the conduct 
of the Hungarians, and so devoted were they to their country’s cause, 
had not Russian gold and the sordid envy of one Hungarian been called 
to their assistance. The last blow that was given to Hungary, and the 
one which prostrated her cause for the time, proceeded from a traitor, 
whose name will be gibbeted by history between those of Iscariot and 
Arnold. • 

The committee have made this recapitulation of the facts of the 
Hungarian controversy with the house of Hapsburgh-Lorraine, because 
they show the character of that controversy; and because, considered 
together, they go far to prove that Hungary is entitled to the fullest 
assistance of all peoples who live under constitutional governments. In 
common parlance, the Hungarian war is spoken of as a war undertaken 
for the establishment of revolutionary principles, than which nothing 
can be more incorrect. That war was undertaken by the Hungarians 
for the maintenance of a constitutional government, the oldest in 
Europe, and under which great advancement had been made in the 
direction of freedom, especially during the thirty-three years which 
elapsed between the general pacification of Europe in 1815, and the 
commencement of the troubles of 1848. So far as that war was revo¬ 
lutionary in its character, it was so on the part of Austria, which 
power sought to erect an absolute government on the ruins of the 
Hungarian constitution; an object which it had diligently labored to 
accomplish for more than three hundred years. Hence the peculiarly 
flagitious character of the intervention of Russia. Had the Hunga¬ 
rians been a despotically-governed people, and had they risen against 
the house of Austria, there might have been, from the Russian point 
of view, a colorable pretence for intervention on the part of the Czar. 
In his assumed character of grand conservator of things as they had 
long existed, and from a desire to maintain the integrity of an empire 
whose existence was held necessary for the preservation of the equi¬ 
librium of Europe, he might have consistently sent his armies to the 
assistance of a neighbor, and a former ally of Russia, at a critical 
period of her fortunes. But the Hungarians were not revolutionists. 
They stood upon their constitutional rights. They could point to the 


APPENDIX. 


295 


solemn oaths, and not less solemn promises, of their sovereigns of the 
Austrian dynasty, in which that constitution and those rights had been 
recognized and guaranteed. They could point to the loyalty of their 
ancestors, through which that dynasty had been saved from destruction 
at the hands of Prussia, and Bavaria, and France. They could appeal 
to even living members of the Austrian family for the proofs of their 
stern fidelity in those times when it was thrice placed in the power of 
Napoleon, to whose offers of the full establishment of their independ¬ 
ence of Austrian rule they had turned a deaf ear, because they would 
be guilty of no violation of their oaths, however great the object to be 
attained, or tempting the occasion. This scrupulous fidelity on their 
part, unworthy as were the objects of it, and bitter as have been its 
consequences to them, furnishes the most convincing proof of the 
excellence of their national character, and shows how safe and profit¬ 
able it would be to enter into the most intimate alliance with them. It 
also increases the indignation that must be felt by every liberal mind, 
that the aim of two great monarchs should be the extinction of the 
national life of a people so eminently endowed with great and good 
qualities, and therefore so capable of adding to the happiness of man¬ 
kind through the unrestricted exercise of their moral powers and intel¬ 
lectual faculties. But no considerations of this kind seem to have had 
any weight with the Czar of Russia. With an utter disregard of all 
those principles of action which honorable men consider of the greatest 
importance, and in violation even of his own avowed principle of action, 
he sent an army of upwards of one hundred thousand men, not to aid 
the Emperor of Austria against a revolutionary party among his sub¬ 
jects, but to assist him in a revolutionary attack on the people and 
institutions of Hungary. The Hungarians were not the enemies of 
Russia. So far were they from occupying such a position, that it 
may be said they were even too careful not to give offence to that 
power. It is believed that at no time throughout the Hungarian war 
would it have been difficult to cause an insurrection in Russian Poland, 
whereby ample employment would have for some time been secured for 
the Czar’s armies; and the great man whose name must be forever 
associated with Hungary’s cause has been severely blamed for refus¬ 
ing to allow the adoption of measures which would have been almost 
certain to have renewed in Poland the events of 1830-31. How this 
scrupulous forbearance was repaid, is to be seen in the fate of Hungary; 
in her ruined cities and devastated plains, in her maltreated women, 
in the seizure of her sons to fill the armies of a despot, in the execu¬ 
tion or exile of her heroes and statesmen, and in her subjection to an 
iron rule. The lesson has been a severe one, but it will not, even at 
the price which Hungary has paid for it, prove altogether too dear, if 
it shall convince the peoples of Europe that forbearance to tyrants is 
itself a deep wrong to humanity. If it should also teach them that 
they have a common cause,—that Hungarians, Poles, Italians, French¬ 
men and Germans, should look upon one another as brethren,— then 


296 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


will not the cruel deaths of Batthyanyi, Aulich, and other patriots, 
have been altogether in vain. 

The right of every constitutionally-governed country to resist Russia, 
when she enters upon a crusade against freedom, as she did in 1849, 
would seem to be a position about which there could be no dispute. 
Each time that she succeeds in any such enterprise, she not only 
acquires new power for further undertakings of the same character, 
but is brought nearer to other nations living within the light of con¬ 
stitutional law. Russia is nearer now to the United States than she 
was to France in 1799, when she sent her armies, under Suwarrow, to 
aid in crushing the French republic. Science has almost bridged the 
ocean, and vastly increased the means of war; and we should always 
recollect that science is the blind agent of any power which can control 
it, and that it is as useful in the hands of the despot to destroy, as it is 
in the hands of the freeman to create and to preserve. Russia is an 
armed and organized barbarism, but having at her control and com¬ 
mand, in all matters of politics and war, everything that is at the 
service of the most enlightened nations. This it is that renders her 
so formidable, coupled with the fact that she has succeeded in intimi¬ 
dating almost every other country, through her success in certain 
great contests in which she was largely favored by circumstances and 
fortune. She not only has great power, both material and moral, but 
the world has condescended to rate that power at double its real weight. 
And to what end is that power directed ? To the destruction of free 
institutions in every part of the world to which it can be made to reach. 
The attack made on the freedom and nationality of Hungary is far from 
being the only one made by Russia in the interest of despotism. Sixty 
years since she destroyed what she and her robber allies had left of 
Poland, because the king, the nobles, and the people of that country, 
had all united to form a constitution for it, which promised to be one 
of the greatest and best instruments of government ever devised by 
the intellect of man. That great conservative statesman, Edmund 
Burke, in one of those immortal works with which he sought to warn 
Europe against what he believed to be the evil spirit of the French 
revolution, did not hesitate to speak in the highest terms of the con¬ 
stitution formed by the government and people of Poland. The means 
by which the former chaos of Poland was brought into order, he 
declared, “were as striking to the imagination, as satisfactory to the 
reason, and soothing to the moral sentiments. In contemplating that 
change, humanity sees everything to rejoice and to glory in ; nothing 
to be ashamed of, nothing to suffer. So far as it has gone, it probably 
is the most pure and defecated public good which ever has been con¬ 
ferred on mankind.” Much more to the same purpose did he say, and 
by way of contrasting the conservative character of the Polish with 
the destructive character of the French revolution. Yet a few months 
saw the constitution of Poland overthrown, and that country itself 
politically destroyed, principally by the armies of Russia, under Suwar¬ 
row, and with circumstances more horrible even than those which 


APPENDIX. 


297 

marked the invasion and conquest of Hungary. And why was this ? 

It was because Russia was determined upon not allowing any nation 
to live under free institutions in her vicinity, and because regenerated 
Poland would have proved a formidable barrier to the realization of her 
schemes of European aggrandizement. 

The attack made by Russia on revolutionized France was caused by 
her hatred of freedom. Her enmity to Napoleon was owing to his 
being the chief of that new order of things, the existence of which was 
incompatible with the continuance of old despotic ideas and forms of 
government, and which would have prevented the extension of her 
dominion to the west. Russia was one of the principal movers in that 
series of events which led to the destruction of the constitutions of 
Spain and Naples. She even offered, on one occasion, to assist the 
English government to establish despotism in England.* In 1830, 
she had concentrated her armies to attack France, in consequence of 
the revolution of July; but those armies found abundant employment 
in Poland. In 1815, a large portion of that country had been erected 
into a kingdom, the crown of which was worn by the Russian Czar. 
That kingdom had a constitution of a liberal character, time and place 
considered. The existence of that kingdom was guaranteed by the so- 
called treaties of Vienna. Repeated violations of the Polish constitu¬ 
tion, and the practice of the most lawless tyranny on the part of Rus¬ 
sian officials, compelled the Poles to have resort to arms, towards the 
close of the year 1830. The war that ensued terminated in the con- 8 
quest of the kingdom of Poland, and the Czar proceeded to act toward 
that community as his armies have enabled Austria to act toward 
Hungary; he incorporated it into his empire, in violation of oaths, 
promises, and obligations of various kinds. The extinction of the little 
republic of Cracow, also in violation of solemn obligations, both express 
and implied, must be fresh in the minds of all, and shows that there is 
no meanness to which the chiefs of the absolutist party are not pre¬ 
pared to stoop, if thereby they can give a blow to the cause of freedom. 
The same powers which have, for at least a time, struck down the con¬ 
stitution of Hungary, venerable though it was with more than eight 
centuries of existence, and supported by thirteen millions of people, 
could also crush the republic of Cracow, with its handful of people, 
and its life of a day. There is nothing too high for them not to strike, 
when the blow is also aimed against human rights; nothing so humble 
that they will refrain from placing their feet upon it, when the act is 
also a trampling upon the hopes of mankind. The only hope that the 
world has of being saved from lasting slavery beneath the same yoke 


* See the speech of Sir James Mackintosh, in the British House of Commons, Feb¬ 
ruary 21, 1821. The offer proceeded from the ministers of the Allied Powers, — the 
Russian minister being one of the number, — and amounted to a proposition that the 
British government should adopt a system of measures which would have enabled any 
ministry to invite into Great Britain an army, for instance, of one hundred thousand 
Russians or Austrians. To those who are aware of what was the political condition 
of Europe in 1821, the meaning of the offer of the allied powers to the English gov¬ 
ernment will be sufficiently plain, without our going into a detail of the facts. 


298 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


that now weighs so heavily on Poland and Hungary, and which threat¬ 
ens both Italy and Germany, is to be found in the union of nations 
which are both strong and free, and whose stern resolution will be 
found as paralyzing to the Russian Czar, as the hand-writing on the 
wall was to the impious Belshazzar, who thought he could defy God, 
and was crushed for his blasphemy. It is the want of union among 
constitutionally-governed countries that has given so much weight to 
a power like Russia, — far more than her victories, the extension of her 
territory, and the skill of her diplomacy. She has had the art to avail 
herself of the prejudices which such nations have felt towards each 
other, which they now feel towards each other; prejudices growing 
out of circumstances having no connection with the present condition 
of the world, prejudices which should be buried in the graves of the 
men whose acts called them into being. 

His Excellency the Governor, in his annual address, with calm 
wisdom, observes, “We cannot, in any view of the subject, quietly 
submit to the absorption of the smaller states by the larger, and the 
final subjection of all to two or three allied despotisms. Such a move¬ 
ment would not only be fatal to our commerce, but to the general 
industry and free principles of America.” These words embody what 
must be the sentiments of every enlightened mind in America. Let 
the now clearly pronounced designs of Russia in Europe be crowned 
with success, and all that is revered or esteemed by the people of the 
United States will be placed in a condition of imminent peril. The 
entire material power of the continent would be at the control of two 
or three royal or imperial families, and would be directed, in the first 
instance, against England, and then against ourselves. The fear was 
expressed by a great American statesman, that if Napoleon should suc¬ 
ceed in his supposed designs to subdue all Europe, continental and 
insular, he would turn his arms against the United States; but there 
were two things that would have rendered the great emperor’s sway 
over all Europe a matter of far less consequence to us than would be 
the complete ascendency of Russia there at the present time. First, 
Napoleon was a new man, and any blow which told against him was 
sure to overthrow the political system of which he is the embodiment. 
The history of the last years of his reign shows that his power was 
personal, almost entirely so. It is different with the Russian Czar. 
He is the chief of a system that, under various phases, has endured 
for a thousand years; and, were he to meet with many military defeats, 
that system would still be powerful. Were he to die, that system 
would not experience any great shock. The change would be one of 
men, not of principles. No conceivable change could have placed 
a greater man in Napoleon’s place; a change of sovereigns might 
put on the throne of Russia a far greater and more ambitious and 
more dangerous man than even the harsh and energetic person who 
now occupies it. Secondly, steam navigation was almost unknown 
down even to the fall of Napoleon; ocean steam navigation, altogether 
so. The effect of this was, that the various parts of Europe were far 


APPENDIX. 


299 


more distant from each other than they now are, and that that quarter 
ot the world was three times as distant from us as it now is. These 
t’w o things make the present condition of America, considered with 
1 eference to the effect of European action on it, far different from Avhat 
it was forty years ago; and prove that dangers may grow out of the 
successes of Russia to us, that would not have followed from the 
ascendency of Napoleon, had it been maintained. Further, we are 
to consider that Napoleon's rule was that of an enlightened chief of 
one of the most highly-cultivated peoples of Europe; while the Czar, if 
enlightened himself, is the head of an empire the bulk of whose pop¬ 
ulation is composed of barbarians: that all Napoleon’s conquests and 
wars led only to the spread of new ideas, and were accomplished by a 
democracy made more efficient for military purposes by the temporary 
adoption of imperial forms; while the wars and conquests of Russia 
are made for the maintenance and spread of old political ideas, and 
for the destruction of democracy. The difference between the two 
cases is one of vital importance, and shows in a striking light the folly 
of those who banded together to strike down liberal France, in the 
last generation, when no other result could follow therefrom, except to 
make the way clear for the ultimate ascendency, over all Europe, of 
despotic and barbarous Russia. 

Not only would the people of the United States see with indigna¬ 
tion attempts made by two or three great powers to destroy the inde¬ 
pendence of the lesser states of Europe, but they w T ould view with 
the deepest feeling of which men are capable any hostile demonstra¬ 
tions that such powers might make against their ancestral land,— that 
land from which American liberty was drawn, and which is now the 
sole depository of the liberty of Europe, as it has more than once hereto¬ 
fore been,— England. No greater misfortune could befall the human 
race than would be involved in the successful invasion of England by 
the mercenaries of the continent,— men whose ferocity and total inca¬ 
pacity to comprehend the merits of any political quarrel have been so 
abundantly proved during the last four years in Hungary and Italy, 
in Germany and France, at Raab and at Brescia, at Paris and at 
Rome. England is the leading country of that system of civilization 
which stands in direct opposition to the despotic system of which Rus¬ 
sia is the chief and the representative. The two powers, therefore, it 
should seem, must one day — and that no very distant one — come 
into collision. In such contest, Russia would have substantially all 
the “ material aid” of the continental states at her disposal; for those 
states have, even now, for their rulers, men who can scarcely claim any 
higher character than that of Russian pro-consuls. Would England 
be equal to contending with success against a combination of powers 
so strong, all directed and controlled by one mighty mind, the chief 
of which has rarely known defeat, and whose defeats have been more 
profitable than the victories of other men ? Highly as the committee 
think of the genius and valor of the great English race, and aware 
though they be that on no field of battle has it ever given way before 


300 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


the soldiers of the continent, when its members were present in any¬ 
thing like fair proportion of numbers, they cannot believe that Eng¬ 
land would maintain herself against odds so tremendous. Even if she 
should do so, the effect of a successful struggle, one that should have 
so terribly tasked her energies, would probably be to leave her in a 
condition so feeble as to prevent her from ever again assuming that 
place which she now holds in the Pentarchy of Europe. The interest 
of the world, therefore, requires that she should not be exposed to the 
risks of any such struggle. And how can that be prevented ? By 
the adoption, on the part of the United States, of a broad and liberal and 
comprehensive foreign policy, which should make of them and the British 
empire one great nation, whenever the interests of constitutional nations 
are assailed — or rather threatened — by the fleets and armies of des¬ 
potism. A union of America and England would not only prevent 
the spread of despotic power, but it would also be a sure guarantee of 
the preservation of the peace of the world. No combination of the 
continental powers would ever think of assailing a country protected by 
the fleets of two such nations as Great Britain and the United States ; 
countries which not only possess already so powerful national marines, 
but whose commercial navies alone are capable of furnishing greater 
means of maritime warfare than those of all the rest of the world 
beside. How far England is now in danger of attack, or how far she 
may be exposed to it in the future, are points which it would take up too 
much time to discuss ; but, when we recollect that every other consti¬ 
tutionally-governed state in Europe, of any importance, has been com¬ 
pelled to come under absolute rule, from the fear, on the part of the 
enemies of constitutional liberty, of the effect of their example; that 
the effect of the example of England has long been felt to be bad by 
the chiefs of the absolutists, and that her allowing political refugees to 
live in her midst has been, and is, a source of annoyance and danger to 
them ; that her press is alone free, in the Old World, and, by the abil¬ 
ity with which it is conducted and the severity of its comments, gives 
offence to every sovereign on the continent of Europe, from the Czar 
of Russia to the Prince President of France ; — when these things are 
recollected, it is by no means unreasonable to suppose that an attack 
may be made on England, by the princes and bureau-crats who have 
succeeded so fully in destroying freedom from the Atlantic to the 
Niemen. At this time, no small number of her people are impressed 
with the belief that danger is to be apprehended from enslaved 
France. It is true that the personage at the head of the French gov¬ 
ernment (perhaps we should say, who is the government of France) 
has declared that he entertains no intention of making war on any 
country; but, unfortunately, not less for his reputation than for the 
quiet of his neighbors, he is known to be the very incarnation of per¬ 
jury. Neither oaths nor promises, nor that desire to stand well with 
the world and in history which should be doubly strong with the pos¬ 
sessor of the greatest of modern names, had any weight with him when 
his supposed interest stood in opposition to them. For the brief enjoy- 


appendix. 


301 


menl; of absolute power, he was content to stand before the world an 
unblushing falsifier of every oath he had taken, of every direct or 
implied pledge which he had made. Against the attacks of such a 
man, who has a great army and a formidable navy at his command, 
not one of his neighbors can for a moment consider herself safe! 
.England, in a particular manner, is liable to be attacked by him, not 
omy from the fact that she is a sort of place of arms, from which a 
moral war is carried' on against his power, but because her great 
wealth would afford a fine field for plunder to an army that has showed 
how lawless is its spirit, and how ready it is to blindly obey any orders 
it may receive from the dictator of France. Old national rivalries can 
be easily rekindled by the exertions of unprincipled writers in the 
service of equally unprincipled statesmen. 

lo prevent an attack on England by the continental powers, or by 
any one of their number who is in a situation to make such an attack 
with effect, would be not only an act of duty, but one of mere wisdom, 
on the part of the United States. The loss which would follow to 
this, country, from only the temporary occupation of England by a 
foreign army, would be immense — almost incalculable. So intimate 
are the mere ties of interest — using the word in its narrowest and most 
restricted sense—between the two great constitutionally-governed coun¬ 
tries of the world, that the one cannot suffer an injury of a serious char¬ 
acter, without the other sharing largely in the evil. This alone would, 
in the opinion of the committee, be sufficient reason for the interference 
of the United States to prevent an attack on England by the autocrats 
and stratocrats of 'the continent. Our interest demands that England 
should not be assailed by powers having no other object in view than 
the overthrow of constitutional liberty and the destruction of com¬ 
merce. But there is another — a higher and a better — reason why 
the people of the United States should regard a causeless attack on 
England, by either France or Russia, as an attack on themselves. 
England is the nation which has done more than any other country to 
preserve the spirit and the practice of freedom. Without her history, 
ours could never have had an existence. Her language and her liter¬ 
ature are ours. The men who founded the American nation were the 
contemporaries of the men who vindicated and established the liberties 
of England. If, in after days, ill feeling arose between the two coun¬ 
tries, which manifested itself through the last resort of peoples and 
kings, it was the consequence of an attempt that was made by the 
government of England to introduce a now line of policy into that 
country, in which but a small portion of the English people had any 
part. Against this is to be set off the noble exertions of such men as 
Chatham, Fox, Burke, Barre, Conway, and many others, who con¬ 
tended, not without success, for the rights of the people of both Eng¬ 
land and America. The unjust attacks that were made on our com¬ 
merce, and the seizure of our seamen, by officials acting under the 
direction of the British government, during the wars that grew out 
of the French revolution, were always condemned by some of the 
26 


302 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


best public men of Britain; and they were defended only on the 
ground of necessity, by those who ordered them. Bor almost forty 
years the two countries have been at peace with each other; and, in 
spite of the exertions of prejudiced or ignorant writers to keep alive 
feelings of hostility between them, they have learned to esteem one 
another, and to measurably comprehend that they have a common duty 
to perform,— that, namely, of promoting the cause of freedom by the 
force of their example, and, if in the order of God’s providence it shall 
become necessary, by the force of those arms which have rarely found 
a position which they could not carry or defend. 

The committee will not speak at length of the connection that 
exists between free institutions and great and lucrative commerce. 
Undoubtedly there have been nations in which commerce has existed 
in connection with arbitrary government of some form or other ; but it 
is a truism that commerce flourishes best where it is most free, and it 
cannot be free in nations where arbitrary power exists. America 
largely depends upon her commerce for her greatness, and for the hap¬ 
piness of her people. That commerce would be vastly increased, were 
the nations of Europe blessed with free and stable governments; it 
must be decreased, or at least its increase be prevented, if those nations 
shall be doomed to exist under tyrannies during the remainder of the 
present century. This is a view of the subject which we have the right 
to take into consideration, and which may have more weight with some 
minds than those higher motives that would seem to point to the adoption 
of a nobler foreign policy on the part of the American republic than 
it has hitherto pursued,— a policy more in accordance with its position 
among great communities, more worthy of the principles which it pro¬ 
fesses to reverence, and more expressive of that gratitude to Heaven 
which is not more due from individuals than from nations, and which 
finds its only proper expression on the part of nations in wise and noble 
endeavors to promote the glory of God through the advancement of 
man’s estate. 

The committee, in the strongest manner that can be done, disclaim 
any intention of reflecting on the conduct of those eminent men who, 
sixty years since, labored with success to secure for their country all 
the real or supposed advantages that followed from the adoption of 
the policy of neutrality at a time when all the rest of Christendom 
was engaged in a war of opinion. For the character of Washington 
the committee entertain that reverential regard which is felt by all 
Americans; nor do they believe that, in recommending action calcu¬ 
lated to aid the oppressed, to extend freedom, and to rebuke despotism, 
they are doing that which would be condemned by Washington him¬ 
self, were he to revisit a world which he did so much to redeem from 
slavery. The policy which Washington adopted was not the result 
of any particular degree of sagacity applied to the management of for¬ 
eign affairs, nor was it the result of a deliberate choice between two 
courses of action which the then government could select from. That 
government had no choice in the matter. The policy which it pur- 


APPENDIX. 


303 


sued grew out of the necessities of the case; it followed, both prac¬ 
tically and logically, from the position of the country and the state of 
the times. Yet it was far from satisfying the people of the United 
States ; and it would seem to be the opinion of most men of eminence 
who have treated of that important period of our history, that nothing 
but the hold which Washington had upon the affections of the peo¬ 
ple gave it success. It was the man who saved the policy, not the 
policy that aided the man. Even his popularity — a popularity, it is 
probable, greater and better founded than that of any other man men¬ 
tioned in history — received some rude shocks in consequence of the 
deep-seated belief in the popular mind that we were bound to aid 
France to achieve her freedom, as she had aided us to achieve ours; 
whereas, by the conclusion of the treaty of 1794, with Great Britain, 
commonly known as Jay’s Treaty, we were placed in an attitude of 
almost open war with the people of France. There are men now liv¬ 
ing who remember the disgust and abhorrence with which the news 
of that treaty was received throughout the nation; and nowhere more 
so than in Boston, where the Revolutionary spirit burned strongly. 
“ It was fortunate for the country at this crisis,” says a writer friendly 
to the policy pursued by Washington’s administration, “ that to a firm¬ 
ness which nothing could shake, to patriotism which never weighed 
popularity in the scale of duty, and to discernment which placed in 
its true light the character of our political relations, the president 
united the strongest hold upon the confidence and affections of the peo¬ 
ple at large which any man, perhaps, ever justly gained; for without 
it, his judgment, in the excited state of the public mind, would not 
have been respected, and his firmness would but have involved himself 
and his policy in ruin.”* The learned historian of American diplo¬ 
macy,*!' after speaking highly of the treaty itself, says that its ratifica¬ 
tion was “ the first act of the government that proved the stability of 
the federal constitution. It was a severe trial; • and the steadiness 
with which the shock was borne may be attributed, in some degree, to 
the personal character of the president.” It would, the committee 
think, be nearer the truth to say that the success of the ratification 
was due solely to the personal character of the president, as the 
regard in which he was held gave pause to the opposition which was 
made to the treaty, and thus enabled the neutral policy to become sol¬ 
idly established. Under the presidency of any other man, that policy 
and the Union would have gone to wreck together. 

In making up an opinion as to the causes of the success of the 
foreign policy adopted in 1793, we should recollect that most people 
of that time were convinced that upon the fate of Washington’s ad- 

* Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams, &c., by George 
Gibbs, vol. i., p. 207. __ _ 

t Lyman, The Diplomacy of the United States, vol, I., p. 208. Mr. Lyman says 
of Jay’s Treaty that “ its principal advantage consisted in its having decked the 
question of neutrality; if it settled none of the leading questions of neutral rights, 
it at least prevented a war at a moment when the government and nation were in 
every respect unprepared, — in itself an infinite benefit.” Vol. i., p. 207. 


804 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


ministration depended the fate of the Union. To resist any measure 
that the administration deemed for the public welfare, and that admin¬ 
istration headed by George Washington, was what not a few men who 
had strong sympathies with France could not make up their minds to 
do, when it was clear that if the administration should fail there would 
be an end to the government under the new constitution, perhaps an 
extinguishment of all hopes for the formation of any national govern¬ 
ment in North America. Men who had no love for the foreign policy 
which the government saw fit to favor, or was forced to favor, were 
not prepared to aid in ruining their country, in order to bring about 
the adoption of a different kind of foreign policy. They knew that the 
effect of their carrying their opposition to extremes would be to destroy 
constitutional freedom in America, without in the slightest degree aid¬ 
ing the cause of European liberty. Hence their acquiescence in 
measures growing out of a policy which they could not approve in 
itself. It was not the first time, nor the last, in which American 
citizens sacrificed their individual opinions for the advancement of 
what was believed to be the general good. 

However well adapted the neutrality policy was to the condition of 
the republic in 1793, there is no reason for believing that it would 
be found equally good, were the people of Europe to rise once more 
against tyrants, and seek the establishment of their rights, or were 
resistance to be made to the spread of Russian dominion. Times and 
circumstances have vastly changed since the day (April 22d), now 
almost sixty years, when the proclamation of neutrality was put forth. 
Then our population was only about four millions; now it is twenty- 
four millions. Then the states were but fifteen in number; now they 
number thirty-one. Then the only part of the country which could 
have contributed anything toward carrying on a war was a narrow 
strip of land on the Atlantic, shut up between the ocean and the forest, 
the former covered with the fleets of England, and the latter filled 
with savages in her pay or under her influence ; now the country is 
settled far beyond the great rivers of the west, and cities owning its 
sway are fast rising to opulence on the shores of the Pacific. Then 
we literally had no national marine, and our mercantile marine was, 
comparatively speaking, small; now our navy is great, and our com¬ 
merce is. not far behind that of (xreat Britain. Then our government 
was but an experiment, and many believed that the Union would soon 
fall to pieces; now that government has endured for almost sixty 
years without having called for the sacrifice of one human life, and 
the danger is, not that the Union will be disturbed, but that our devo¬ 
tion to it will cause us to overlook the importance and deserts of the 
states, to neglect local matters in our regard for those national in 
their character, to forget state rights in our love of centralization. 
Then we had not been tried either by war or by bitter political con¬ 
flicts <it home, under the new system; now we have been through two 
severe foreign wars, and have had a score of hard yet bracing and 
bloodless contests at home. Then we were poor; now we are rich. 


APPENDIX. 


305 

Then we were weak; now we are strong. Then we were behind even 
Venice in political importance; now we are one of the three or four 
powers that can alone assert their independence. This changed state 
of affairs has brought with it new duties. We cannot, if we would, 
remain out of the influence of the great international politics of the 
world. We cannot be indifferent to the proceedings of nations that 
are only from twelve to twenty days’ sail of us, which have great 
armies at their control, and great fleets in which to transport those 
armies to our shores, should they, having conquered all their foes at 
home, deem it proper to destroy the source of so many heresies — as 
they consider them — as for three-quarters of a century have been 
spread over the earth from America. We cannot he indifferent to the 
spread of Russian dominion over Europe. We cannot be indifferent 
to attacks on England, when commerce, language, all the ties of in¬ 
terest and affection, call upon us in imperative tones to sustain her 
against the assaults of absolutism. We may seek to isolate ourselves; 
we may strive to imitate that Japanese policy which we are told it is 
the intention of our government to reform at the mouths of the cannon 
of our ocean steamers; we may assert that the gift of prosperity un¬ 
paralleled, which we daily own is the work of Heaven, has brought 
with it no corresponding duties, no obligation to make any return for 
it; — but the popular mind will not be forever bound by chains derived 
from the distant past, a period as much unfit to give law to the pres¬ 
ent as the age of the Pilgrims was to give law to the period of the 
Revolution. It requires no great amount of knowledge to be aware 
that a vast change has already been had. Within four years the ordi¬ 
nary work of a generation has been performed, a feat not unworthy 
of an age that has made of steam and electricity its two most useful 
slaves. A similar change in the next four years would place our 
country at the head of the liberalized portion of the world. There is 
no reason to suppose that it will not take place. Shall not Massachu¬ 
setts do her part in bringing it about ? Such a work would be worthy 
of that old commonwealth which led the way, not only to the Ameri¬ 
can Revolution, but through it, and thus was foremost in the earlier 
of those movements which have ever since had so potent an effect on 
human destinies. 

The committee agree with the suggestion made by his Excellency 
the Governor, that while it would seem to be proper for our govern¬ 
ment to give Austria and Russia notice that we assert on our part a 
right to interfere in favor of republican or constitutional governments 
if they assert the right of interference against freedom, we should 
reserve to “ ourselves, of course, the power to judge of circumstances 
and the necessity of interference as events transpire.” It would be 
unwise for the United States to attempt intervention in the affairs 
of any part of the world, no matter how just the cause in which a 
people might be engaged who should demand intervention at their 
hands, unless they had the power to make their action important. 
Power should exist as well as good will, to make our interference of 
26 * 


306 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


any account. It would be only to injure ourselves, without benefiting 
others, were we to attempt interference without being equal to making 
our acts accord with our diplomatic language. Nations which attempt 
more than they can perform are sure to compromise their dignity, and 
to expose themselves to insult. But we should not insist upon wait¬ 
ing for the appearance of another generation, before we take our proper 
place among the leading nations of the world. We have the power at 
this moment to perform a great part in the transaction of important 
affairs; and the recollection of the manner in which their country was 
redeemed from a condition of colonial vassalage cannot fail to cause 
Americans to consider themselves bound, so far as they honestly can, 
to aid peoples who are engaged in contending for their rights. The 
contest that eventuated in the establishment of American independence 
was not a mere struggle for local freedom. It w T as destined to have, 
and has had, a most important effect on the subsequent life of Chris¬ 
tendom. In the soul-moving language of one whose name stands high 
in our literature, and who is engaged in worthily relating the history 
of our fathers,— “ The authors of the American Revolution avowed 
for their object the welfare of mankind, and believed that they were in 
the service of their own and of all future generations. Their faith 
was just; for the world of mankind does not exist in fragments, nor 
can a country have an insulated existence. All men are brothers, 
and all are bondsmen for one another. All nations, too, are brothers, 
and each is responsible for that federative humanity which puts the 
ban of exclusion on none. New principles of government could not 
assert themselves in one hemisphere without affecting the other. The 
very idea of the progress of an individual people, in its relation to 
universal history, springs from the acknowledged unity of the race.”* 
The Committee recommend the adoption of the following Resolves. 

For the Committee, 

Charles C. Hazewell, Chairman. 


RESOLVES IN RELATION TO NATIONAL INTERVENTION. 

1st. That every nation has the right to adopt such form of govern¬ 
ment as may seem to it best calculated to advance those ends for which 
all governments are in theory established. 

2d. That the Hungarian nation, in the years 1848 and 1849, was 
engaged in a proper and legitimate political movement, having for its 
object the improvement and extension of free institutions, and was 
therefore entitled to the sympathy of the people of every country who 
were themselves living in the enjoyment of those blessings which alone 
flow from such institutions. 

3d. That the intervention of the Czar of Russia in the contest 
between the people of Hungary and the house of Hapsburgh-Lorraine 

* Bancroft, History of the United States, vol. iv., pp. 5, 6. 



APPENDIX. 


307 


was an act in gross violation of the law of nations, and ought to have 
been more seriously considered by every nation interested in the main¬ 
tenance of constitutional liberty. 

4th. That we deeply sympathize with the oppressed people of Hun¬ 
gary and with those Hungarians who are in exile, and that we hope 
and trust that the vindication of Hungarian rights by Hungarian arms 
will restore the exile to his country, and his country to freedom ; and 
that the United States would, in our opinion, be justified in making 
use of all proper means to advance an end so strictly in accordance 
with the principles of justice and humanity. 

5th. That the part borne by Louis Kossuth in the great struggle 
for the preservation of the nationality of Hungary, and the political 
rights of the Hungarian people, entitles him to the regard and confi¬ 
dence of all lovers of freedom; and we rejoice that he does not despair 
of his country’s restoration, but directs the whole power of his great 
mind to the advancement of that hour when Hungary shall stand 
before the world a nation free from Austrian tyranny, and constitu¬ 
tionally governed. 

6th. That the Czar of Russia, in giving up to judicial butchery 
those Hungarian patriots who surrendered to his armies, was guilty 
of an infamous act, revolting alike to the laws of God and the dictates 
of common humanity, which ranks him even beneath the Emperor 
of Austria, by whom they were put to death; they having never 
injured the former potentate, and having fought against the latter only 
in defence of their historical and inalienable rights, and to prevent 
him from establishing a despotism over their country. 

7th. That it is the duty and the interest of all constitutionally- 
governed nations to cultivate the most intimate relations with each 
other, to the end that, should the emergency arise, they may the more 
easily combine their powers to repel the attacks of despots. 

8th. That copies of these Resolves be sent to our Senators and 
Representatives in Congress, and that they be requested to make use 
of all proper means to advance the ends which they recommend and 
the principles they embody. 


Resolutions on Intervention adopted by the Democratic District 
Convention at Middleboro’, Mass., Dec. 31, 1852, referred to by 
Kossuth in his speech at Fall River. 

Resolved , That the doctrine that every nation has the right of 
determining, changing or modifying, its own institutions, without let or 
hindrance from other nations, is so manifestly true that no republican 
can deny it, and it ought to be declared a fundamental principle in the 
laws of nations. 

Resolved , That the application of Governor Kossuth to the govern¬ 
ment of the United States, to make a declaration of this principle, is 
only reasonable, and ought to be granted. 



308 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Resolved , That the principles of the governments of Russia and 
America are antipodal; — that America has as much interest in main¬ 
taining republicanism as Russia has in maintaining despotism, and an 
equal right to do it; and if the people of America believe republicanism 
more conducive to the well-being and happiness of mankind, they are 
bound in duty to do it. 

Resolved , That that policy which was wise and prudent when our 
nation was small and weak may not be prudent and wise when we 
have become great and strong, and that duty is always commensurate 
with ability; and the greatest good of mankind should be the object of 
our policy. 

Resolved , That inasmuch as our example has lured on the votaries 
of liberty in other lands to peril their all that they may enjoy the 
happiness of our freedom, it is worse than a mockery, it is downright 
niggardness, in us, not to make some sacrifice to aid them, when they 
call to us so piteously and we can do it so easily. 

Resolved , That in our opinion a united declaration of America and 
England of the principle of the right of every nation to manage its 
own affairs would have the same effect to prevent intervention in 
the affairs of European states that it had in the case of the states of 
South America, and would thereby conserve the peace of Europe. 
But, 

Resolved , That should it not have this effect, there would be de¬ 
clared such a state of affairs, and such a determination of despots, as 
should arouse all the nations possessing constitutional freedom to the 
necessity of preparing for their own defence. 

Resolved , That America cannot be indifferent to European affairs. 
Her example is influencing the nations of the earth, and she can no 
longer be regarded with indifference by despots, for they plainly see 
that they can have no peace while she exists; either they or she must 
go down, and the struggle is at hand. Where shall that struggle 
take place 7 — Shall America wait till Europe is Cossack, and the 
theatre of action is transferred to our own shores 7 — or, shall she but 
let the light of her countenance encourage on the votaries of freedom, 
to fight her and their battles far away on the shores of Europe 7 The 
answer to Governor Kossuth’s appeal will decide. 


RESOLUTIONS OF VERMONT. 

State of Vermont. 

Executive Department, Rutland, Jan. 1, 1852. 

Sir: 

. I have the honor herewith to transmit to you a copy of the resolu¬ 
tions passed by the General Assembly of this state. 

A deep and hearty sympathy with the people of every state, strug¬ 
gling to establish and maintain a separate existence among the nations 



APPENDIX. 


309 


of the earth, would naturally he felt by the people of Vermont, who 
owe their separate existence to a similar struggle. A detestation of 
every attempt from a foreign power, either to crush their exertions, or 
to interfere with their internal regulations, would be the natural feel¬ 
ings of the people of this state, when they remember their early his¬ 
tory. No one can doubt their sincerity in welcoming you to the land 
of Ethan Allen, who was the first to demand the surrender of a fort 
in the name of the Continental Congress, and who bit asunder the 
irons designed to manacle his limbs, and subdue his feelings of inde¬ 
pendence and freedom. 

I assure you it gives me great pleasure to be the instrument of con¬ 
veying to you these wishes; and it would give me still greater pleasure 
personally to welcome and receive you on the soil of a state whose boast 
is, that they have ever been among the foremost to resist oppression, 
and to extend their sympathy and their aid to every people who assert 
the rights to which “ nature and nature’s God entitle them.” 

With the highest respect, I have the honor to be your Excellency’s 
most obedient, humble servant, Charles K. W illiams, 

[Governor of Vermont .] 

To his Excellency, Governor Louis Kossuth. 

Resolution of welcome to Louis Kossuth, late Governor of Hun¬ 
gary: 

Whereas, it is understood that Louis Kossuth, late Governor of 
Hungary, is about to visit the United States of America; therefore, 

Resolved , by the Senate and House of Representatives , That 
we, in behalf of the people of Vermont, bid him welcome to our Green 
Mountain State, as a patriot and statesman worthy of a home in the 
land of the free. 

The above is a true copy of a resolution adopted by the General 
Assembly of Vermont, on the 19th day of November, A. D. 1851. 

J. J. Merrill, Secretary of State. 


RESOLUTIONS OF RHODE ISLAND. 

State oe Rhode Island, &c. 

In General Assembly, Providence, Jan. Session, 1852. 

Whereas Louis Kossuth, the elected chief magistrate of the Hunga¬ 
rian nation, is now the invited guest of the United States; and whereas 
this General Assembly recognize in him the undaunted champion, under 
the most adverse circumstances, of national freedom and political equal¬ 
ity, as well as the eloquent apostle of those great doctrines of civil and 
religious liberty on which the colonization of this state was founded, 
and°the enlightened exponent of those municipal institutions, on the 



310 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


full development of which the perpetuity of our own union depends ; 
and whereas this General Assembly feel assured that the people deeply 
sympathize in the disasters of Hungary, effected by the intervention 
of foreign despotism, and that they earnestly desire to evince their 
respect for the virtues and talents of the illustrious Magyar, and to 
manifest their lively interest in the ultimate triumph of his country; 

Resolved , That this General Assembly do, in the name and on 
behalf of the people of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, invite 
Louis Kossuth to visit Providence, as the guest of the state, during 
their present session. 

Resolved , That a committee of three members of the Senate and 
five members of the House of the Representatives be appointed to make 
the necessary arrangements for the reception of Governor Kossuth. 

Resolved , That his Excellency the Governor be requested to trans¬ 
mit a copy of the foregoing resolutions, duly authenticated under the 
seal of the state, to Governor Kossuth. 

True copy, witness. 

Asa Potter, Secretary of State. 


State op Rhode Island. 
Department op State, Providence, Jan. 16, 1852. 
Sir : ’ 

I have the pleasure to transmit to you a certified copy of the reso¬ 
lutions of the Legislature of this state, now in session at Providence. 
The same will be handed to you by Welcome B. Sayles, Esq., who 
has been appointed a special messenger for that purpose. 

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Philips Allen, Governor. 

To Governor Kossuth. 


SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES ANDREWS, OF MAINE, 

IN THE HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES OP THE UNITED STATES, 
February 25, 1852, 

ON THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE LEGISLATURE OP THE STATE OP MAINE, 
TENDERING 

SYMPATHY TO LOUIS KOSSUTH, 

Condemning the unwarrantable intervention of Russia in the affairs of 
Hungary , and asking the influence of the United States agai 7 ist all 
such intervention in future. 


Mr. Speaker : I had the honor to present to this House, some 
two weeks since, the following Resolutions, passed by the Legislature 
ot Maine, on the 16th day of January last: 




APPENDIX. 


311 


Resolved, That in Louis Kossuth we recognize a distinguished representative o? 
ireeaom and constitutional liberty ; and that his Excellency the Governor be requested 
to extend to him a cordial invitation to visit the capital of this state. 

. ** Resolved, That we tender to Louis Kossuth the assurance that we entertain a 
sincere sympathy for the wrongs of Hungary, and a deep detestation of the despotic 
tyranny qf Austria, and the unwarrantable intervention of Russia. 

“ Resolved, That we earnestly desire that the General Government of the United 
btates may exert an influence in some wise and proper manner against all such in¬ 
tervention in future. ’ * 

I am proud of the position Maine occupies upon this question, as 
having boldly taken the lead in the noble ranks of patriotic states. It 
is the bold position inscribed upon her coat of arms, “ Dirigo” She 
has never yet disgraced it. Her position upon this question, I have 
little doubt, as a principle, will eventually lead to the political regener¬ 
ation of broken Hungary, and the further spread of republican prin¬ 
ciples in Europe. 

I am proud of the generous magnanimity of my native state, when 
I see her, unsolicited, through the representatives of her people, 
and by her decided vote, bare her sinewy arm for the oppressed of 
mankind, and against her own pecuniary interest in the improbable 
event of war; thus causing the dictates of a world-wide patriotism to 
control the grovelling passion of selfishness. 

If there is one state in this confederacy that would feel more than 
another the effects of war, it is Maine. Her extended seaboard, un¬ 
protected save by the hardy inhabitants upon the coast; her immense 
interest in navigation; her ship-building, in magnitude of tonnage far 
before either of her sister states; in short, her every source of business, 
is in the most exposed condition: but the Legislature looked upon 
such resolutions as sufficient to direct the attention of Congress and 
the nation to the subject-matter, and any just resolutions as insufficient 
to drive Russia into a war upon the subject of Hungary, as it must 
likewise involve her in a struggle with the leading and many of the 
smaller powers of Europe. 

The language of the resolutions is chaste and prudent, and the sen¬ 
timents calm, dignified, and manly. 

They are calculated, at least, to arouse in the minds of members of 
this House the importance of the principles involved, and to lead to a 
careful review of the whole subject-matter. 

Mr. Speaker, the agent of the scattered Hungarians, Governor Kos¬ 
suth, is now with us. He came as the nation’s guest, and has been 
treated by the great mass of our people as became the nation, and as 
was due the man. It was at one time much to be regretted that such 
sensitiveness was exhibited upon the part of many of our southern 
friends; for it bore so strong a resemblance to unreasonable jealousy, 
that it took a mind quite as free from distrust as my own to be satis¬ 
fied that it was only being a “little sensitive.” 

Governor Kossuth, independent of being invited to this country, 
occupies the same honorable position here as Dr. Franklin occupied in 
France in the perilous times of our own Revolutionary struggle, only 
that his case is a much plainer one. He solicits this nation to join 


312 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Great Britain in intervention in behalf of his country, and at the same 
time is preparing for war, if it must come, by gathering the materiel. 
His mission is an honorable one, and he is worthy of his mission. 

Paid editors may traduce him through their mercenary journals, 
and such politicians as choose can aid in the work; but the^ cannot 
make him otherwise than the wonderful man of the times, and appa¬ 
rently destined for the mighty mission he is so rapidly accomplishing. 

Who has seen him, but to be won by his child-like simplicity, the 
frankness of his manners, and his unostentatious but devoted piety ? 

Who has read his speeches, but has admired the wonderful sagacity 
and prudence with which he treats all subjects, wounding the feelings 
of no one — pleasing all ? And who has heard him speak, but was 
electrified and astounded, if not convinced, by his lofty flights, his 
bold metaphors, his unanswerable logic ? 

He seems to possess the purity of a Washington, the sagacity of a 
Jefferson, and more than Websterian combination and logic; while his 
eloquence is purely his own,— calm , gentle , enticing , commanding. 

Determined, desperate and cruel, have been the means used to prej¬ 
udice the American people against his mission; but the influence of 
his pure doctrine leaps from mind to mind as through the unseen 
channels of magnetism. Stay his influence ! 

“ Canst thou bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades ? ” 

Louis Kossuth is destined to occupy the choicest ni'che in the temple 
of fame, for this age of the world. 

Mr. Speaker, the second resolution refers to a land teeming with 
the liveliest interest from the earliest history of its people. 

Tracing the annals of history, we find that the Magyars, or Hun¬ 
garians, were so called by the Russians, and other Sclavonians. Their 
true origin is not known. The older writers derive them from the 
Huns of Attila,— some suppose them the descendants of the Fins; but 
their own great antiquarian, Fejer (keeper of the library of Pesth), 
derives them from the Parthians. 

They were first known upon the broad land of the Turan, in Asia, 
a small band, with a fixed resolution to emigrate, and push their way 
westward into eastern Europe. Before starting, they proceeded to 
elect a chief or prince, and formed a constitution limiting his 'power; 
and thus, as early as the last of the seventh century, we find this 
people exercising a right which not only evinced their sagacity, but 
showed their great discretion and love of liberty. 

Just what that constitution was, which was made the guide for their 
prince and people, it is not possible to ascertain; but it became the 
foundation of a constitution afterwards adopted, and will be referred to. 

Thus, at this age of the w T orld, we find this people about to leave 
the broad plains of Asia, their early home, and the home of their 
fathers, patriotically forming a compact , and making themselves into 
a nation, to be governed by liberal principles,—at an age, too, when all 


APPENDIX. 


313 


republics had gone to decay, and political darkness shrouded the whole 
earth. 

After leaving Asia, they first occupied the country lying between 
the Don and Dnieper for two hundred years. In 894 they entered 
Hungary, under their prince Almus, and in 900 made the conquest 
complete, under Arpad, son of Almus, having subdued the Bulgarians, 
Sclavonians, Moravians, Germans, Italians and Croatians, with others 
that then occupied it; thus establishing their reputation for indomi¬ 
table courage and perseverance, which they have not lost by time or 
oppression. 

In the distribution of the territory thus won, the common soldier 
came in for his share , wherever daring, courage, or other superior 
merit, was found. 

This was done without regard to rank, not only as an act of justice, 
but to establish the noble principle that rank and birth were to have 
no particular favor with the stern Hungarian warrior or his people. 

From 900 to 1000, nothing of particular note transpired, save the 
gradual introduction of the arts of peace, agriculture and manufactures; 
and that Geysa, the grandson of Arpad, introduced Christianity, which 
was violently opposed, and made but little progress till after his death. 

Stephen, the son of Geysa, was the first King of Hungary, and was 
crowned in the year 1000. Stephen, in fact, was the founder of the 
kingdom, and one of the ablest and best monarchs Europe ever pro¬ 
duced. He remodelled the constitution, and gave form and symmetry 
to its rough beauties, and enlarged the liberties of the people by 
important changes in the social compact. 

At this period we are enabled to get at the Hungarian constitution; 
and, although novel to us in some of its features, yet when we reflect 
that this was an age of barbarism, at or near the time when political 
darkness commenced its reign over the face of Europe,— a darkness 
that fell like a pall upon the energies of every other nation,— all must 
be struck with admiration at the genius, the justice, and the greatness 
of the man who, under such circumstances, was quietly giving to his 
people a constitution of checks and balances, showing great wisdom and 
a strong republican tendency. 

In the progress of her polity subsequently, we find Hungary, like 
our own government, was composed of three distinct branches, the one 
a check upon the other. First, the King. Second, the Diet, or Con¬ 
gress, composed of two Houses, the upper and lower. The upper 
house comprised the dignitaries of the Greek Church and Roman 
clergy, and the magnates or hereditary nobility. The lower. house 
was composed of the inferior nobles (not hereditary); ecclesiastical 
chapters, by their representatives; also, by representatives of the free 
towns, towns that had been enfranchised for some eminent service of 
war or peace. And, thirdly, by a Judiciary; the Tavernicus, being 
the president of the Court of Appeal. Another feature worthy of par¬ 
ticular note is, that the Palatine, or President of the upper house, was 
chosen by the Diet from four candidates named by the king, and be- 


314 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


longing to any order of the state. This officer ranked next to the 
king, was regent, and appointed the generalissimo of the armies. The 
king was chosen for life. Instead of being king by birth, he was 
elected by the Diet, which right was always exercised. They fre¬ 
quently changed the line of succession to another branch of the family, 
and even created a new dynasty. Thus came the power first in the 
house of Hapsburgh. 

The powers of the king were limited. He could not declare war 
without the consent of the Diet, nor could he levy taxes without the 
consent of the free towns. In case of disagreement, the Diet decided. 

The nobility were compelled to fight the battles of their country, if 
war was legally declared. 

Beyond this, showing the wisdom of these people at an early age, 
we find the united Greek Church sent their delegates to the Diet, and 
that religious toleration was guaranteed to the nation, and ever after 
maintained. 

After the close of Stephen’s reign, about thirty different sovereigns 
reigned over Hungary, up to the revolution of 1848, all of whom were 
elected by the Diet. The administration of each was guided and con¬ 
trolled by the constitution of Stephen, and the subsequent changes 
therein, as the fundamental law of the nation. 

She was engaged in various wars, the most remarkable of which 
was with the Turks, covering much of the time from 1526 to 1716; 
and but for the power and skill of the Hungarian armies, it is more 
than probable that the Koran would have supplanted the Holy Scrip- 
tures , and the faith of Mahomet been the religion of all continental 
Europe at this day. 

At all times, throughout a period of more than eight and a half cen¬ 
turies, Hungary maintained inviolate the great democratic principle, 
that every man has a right to worship God according to the dictates 
of his own conscience. 

Here I would remark that, in the year 1367, Kang Louis I. estab¬ 
lished the first high school for general education , at the expense of 
the state ; and such has been the progress of education throughout 
Hungary, “that [says Paget in a late history] nine-tenths of the 
whole population can read and write in one or two languages;” thus 
establishing, beyond a doubt, the diffusion of intelligence among the 
people equal to any in Europe, and in advance of our own at the 
formation of our government, if not now. 

In 1848 uneasiness prevailed among the people of Hungary. Yet, 
notwithstanding their king had been elected by the Diet from the house 
of Hapsburgh from the year 1687 to that time, they did not ask the 
entire overthrow of their limited monarchy; but they asked, with 
burning eloquence, for redress of grievances, and an extension of lib¬ 
erty to the masses. 

The court of Vienna yielded, or pretended to yield, to the just 
request of the Diet and people, which caused universal rejoicings 
throughout the kingdom, little thinking of the treachery and fraud to 
be afterwards practised upon them. 


APPENDIX. 


315 


The history of the bloody and treacherous onslaught upon devoted 
Hungary, the unwarrantable interference of despotic Russia, the horrid 
cruelties perpetrated upon Hungarian men, women and children, the 
treachery of a Gorgey, the fearful brutalities of “the butcher” 
Haynau, are all too fresh in the memories of this House and the 
American people to need one word of comment. 

Up to this time Hungary was one of the important nations of Eu¬ 
rope. For more than eight hundred years her people had occupied 
the same territory; had maintained her nationality; had progressed in 
all the useful arts and sciences; had diffused throughout the kingdom 
an almost universal elementary education, and had kept alive, as a 
u holy fire,” that germ of liberty that animated the breasts of their 
fathers far away upon the plains of Asia, at the birth of their nation. 

Her physical and political resources exhibit a people amply able to 
support their position in the great family of nations. 

I take the following statistics from the speech of Mr. Webster at the 
dinner given to Kossuth in this city, as they are accurately prepared, 
and support my position. 

The following enumeration of the races that constitute the popula¬ 
tion of Hungary is taken from one of the latest and most authoritative 
publications of Austrian statistics, that of Haeufler: 

Hungary, including Croatia and Slavonia. 


Slowacks. 

Russniaks. 


. . 2,200,000 
. . . 350,000 
. . . 740,000 
. . . 660,000 
. . . 50,000 
. . . 12,800 



. 986,000 

. 250,000 



10,522,800 


Transylvania. 

. 260,000 

. 250,000 

. 1,287,340 

. 60,400 



2,117,910 


Military Frontiers. 

. 54,000 

. 692,960 

. 203,000 



. . . .TT . . 895,960 



1,235,460 



























316 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


Totals for all Hungary. 

Magyars . . . %.. 

Slavonians. 

Germans. 

Wallachians.. 

Szeklers . 

Jews and others.. 


4 , 605,670 

4 , 905,760 

1 , 421,500 

2 , 317,340 

250,000 

372,900 


Grand total 


13 , 873,170 


By a still more recent account, taken from the official statistics of 
Austria, it appears that Hungary, including Transylvania and Military 
Frontiers, has one hundred and twelve thousand square miles, with 
fourteen million five hundred thousand inhabitants, and contains — 


Cities. 

Towns. 

Villages .... 
Roman Catholics 
Greeks .... 
Protestants . . . 
Jews. 


... 75 
. . .888 
. 16,000 
9 , 000,000 
4 , 000,000 
3 , 250,000 
. 250,000 


Hungary is about the size of Great Britain, and comprehends nearly 
half of the territory of Austria. 

It is stated by another authority that the population of Hungary is 
nearly fourteen millions, that of England (in 1841) nearly fifteen mil¬ 
lions, that of Prussia about sixteen millions. 

Thus it is evident that, in point of power, so far as power depends 
upon population, Hungary possesses as much power as England proper, 
or even as the kingdom of Prussia. Well, then, there is population 
enough — there are people enough. Who, then, are they? Their 
history is known to you as well as to myself, if not better; and I may 
say they are a distinct people from nations that surround them. They 
are distinct from the Austrians on the west, and the Turks on the 
east; and I will say, in the next place, that they are an enlightened 
nation. They have their history; they have their traditions; they 
are attached to their own institutions and to their own constitutions, 
which have existed for more than a thousand years. 

Mr. Speaker, I have proved, or endeavored to, that Hungary was 
not only an important nation, but that she possessed, to an eminent 
degree, the capacities for a republican government. 

Her long abhorrence to the centralization of power, her watchful 
guardianship of the rights of the people as guaranteed by their ancient 
constitution, jealousy of the people for their rights, and love of liberty 
and “ father-land,”—all give assurance of this belief; and yet, with 
the history of her past before us, how often have we heard the remark, 
“ They are totally ignorant of the principles of government, and incapa¬ 
ble of sustaining a republic, if unmolested ” ! Such remarks must come 
from minds ill-informed upon the Hungarian character. Let them look 
back to the days of our Revolution. Had we then more courage, more 


















APPENDIX. 31T, 

patriotism, and could more than “ nine-tenths of our population read 
and write in one or more languages ” ? 

The British constitution, up to the time of the Revolution, was not 
as liberal as the Hungarian; yet hut little complaint was made till near 
the war, and then, as in Hungary, our people made but a request to 
the king for a redress of grievances. And so it passed along until the 
Declaration of Independence,— in fact, till the formation of the con¬ 
stitution,— and then were found some of the purest patriots of the 
war opposed to our well-nigh faultless structure of government, for the 
reason of distrust in the intelligence of the people. Such men, it 
seems, are with us now. If they are such from principle, they are 
not to be censured ; but if they are raising the cry to retard the Hun¬ 
garian cause, I regard it as a sort of covert warfare, in which I would 
wish to be spared the laurels. 

For one, I have no such feelings of distrust of the intelligence of the 
people. I have always found it there ; and, from the most careful 
research, I am convinced as much good native sense, as strong powers 
of mind, enlarged by generous education, exist with the Hungarian 
masses as with any other nation; — and, with efficient and pure-minded 
rulers at the head of a republican government (and we know they do 
not lack the men), I should have no fears of most triumphant success. 

But Hungary exists only in name. The foot-prints of the tyrant 
are upon her soil, and her people are borne down with sore oppression. 
The Austrian w 7 as driven from her borders, but the semi-barbarian 
soldiers of the Czar of Russia broke her power, and her people have 
become wanderers in other lands. 

Was this right? No! Was it lawful? No! For Hungary had 
her nationality independent of Austria, and of course had a right to 
repel Austrian invasion. 

All the writers upon international law agree upon the principle that 
every nation has a right to manage its own internal affairs, and that 
no other nation has a right to interfere. 

“ No state has a right to intermeddle in the internal affairs of 
another. 

“ This rule is a necessary consequence of legal equality, and exclu¬ 
sive jurisdiction of independent states. 

“ A right to interfere cannot be claimed, even by an ally.”— Gro- 
tius. 

“ The perfect equality of nations is admitted by all writers to be a 
fundamental principle, and inviolable.” . * * “ Relative magnitude 

or imbecility creates no distinction of rights.” * * “ It is usurp¬ 

ation, when a strong power interferes in the affairs of a weak one.”— 
Kent. 

Vattel lays it down as a principle of the laws of nations, 

“ That when a rebellion assumes the character of a civil war, foreign 
powers not only have no right to interfere in favor of either side, but 
are bound to recognize and respect two independent parties, constitut¬ 
ing for the time, at least, two separate bodies, or societies. Though 

27* 


818 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


one party fee to blame, yet there is no common judge on earth. They 
stand precisely in the predicament of two nations unable to agree upon 
some points of dispute, and who have resorted to arms to settle it; and 
foreign nations are bound to observe all the laws of nations in regard 
to such war.” 

Sir, the intervention of Russia in the affairs of Hungary was an 
open, palpable, flagrant and wanton violation of the well-settled law 
of nations. It was an interference which struck the whole civilized 
world with surprise and horror, and which awakened in patriotic minds 
everywhere a suspicion of her intention to break down liberal princi¬ 
ples, in whatever form and wherever they might appear. It awakened 
an almost universal feeling that such oppression should be repelled,— 
that aid to Hungary should be afforded in that way which time might 
develop as the most prudent and effective. 

I arraign Russia as a violator of the laws of nature, of nations, of 
mankind,— the oldest, the highest, and most sacred laws of Christen¬ 
dom. I charge her with being a nation of murderers; for, in viola¬ 
tion of this law, she marched her armies upon the territory of a nation 
(Hungary) with whom she was at peace, “ interfered with her affairs,” 
and ruthlessly slew her citizens by thousands, and made desolate the 
land. 

Mr. Speaker, what is the duty of other nations, under circumstances 
like these? 

Says Wildman: 

“ The laws of nations cannot be varied by municipal regulations. 

If so, it is a violation of them, and the violators should be held 
accountable by all nations .” 

Vattel says : 

“ All nations have the right to resort to forcible means against a 
nation who openly violates the laws of nations.” 

Grotius, Vattel and others, say that 

“ Nations have the greatest interest in causing the law of nations, 
which is the basis of their tranquillity, to be universally respected. 

If one openly tramples it under foot, they all may and ought to rise 
up against him; and, by uniting their forces to chastise the common 
enemy, they will discharge their duty towards themselves, and towards 
human society, of which they are members.” 

II eights of a nation are inviolable and imprescriptible, and 
cannot be lost for want of use.” 

This is the law of nations. Hungary had not lost the right to gov¬ 
ern herself by electing the Emperor of Austria as her king; and, 
when she assumed the right to govern herself, even Austria was unwar¬ 
ranted in her course, independent of her solemn edict to the Diet to 
give to Hungary the reforms she asked for. 

Mr. Speaker, the law that one nation has no right to intermeddle 
with the affairs of another is as clear and well-settled as any statute * 
law of this nation, or of either of the states. Its justice and necessity 
are and must be acknowledged on all sides. Its importance is far 


APPENDIX. 


319 


beyond any national or state law; for, without such principle operating 
throughout the world, there could exist no nations, no government. 
The punishment of a breach of it is more imperative upon other 
nations, by reason of the vastness of its importance, than the neglect 
to enforce any municipal law for the punishment of crime. 

Sir, suppose an atrocious murder is committed in your quiet neigh¬ 
borhood. For revenge or money, one of your neighbors is inhumanly 
butchered. The murderer is known ; the proof is conclusive. Would 
not there arise at once a universal feeling that the violated law should 
be redressed, and would not every one feel that an important duty 
rested upon him to aid in bringing the fiend to condign punishment? 
No one can question but the crime of Russia is much deeper and 
darker than that of the individual murderer, and no reason can be 
offered why the duty to vindicate the laws is not more imperative upon 
nations than individuals. 

The world has not considered this question as they ought, and man¬ 
kind have been inclined to look to the execution of all such laws as 
they felt a peculiar interest in. The difficulty is this. We are too apt 
to circumscribe our views.by self,— not regarding the whole family of 
man as our brethren, and that we are dependent upon one another 
throughout the great world; we confine our charities, our aid, our 
good acts, to ourselves and immediate community, and to the present 
time, not guiding and guarding our national liberties for a mighty 
future. 

Mr. Speaker, having shown the unjustifiable, illegal and inhuman 
manner of Russian intervention in the case of Hungary, I will for a 
moment examine the principle of that proper intervention, the exer¬ 
cise of which, in behalf of Hungary, would have been justified by the 
laws of nations; an intervention not only conforming to admitted prin¬ 
ciples of international law, but hallowed by the early recollections .of 
that heroic people whose natal morn, though encircled by the worship¬ 
pers of despotism, found them bowing before the shrine of freedom. 

The law seems to be clearly settled upon this point, as well by pre¬ 
cedent as by authority. Washington justified intervention by a nation 
when necessary for the security of what is due to themselves. See 
Sparks’ Life. The general principle, as laid down by Vattel and sus¬ 
tained by all jurists, is, “nations may interfere to protect themselves, 
whether the danger be remote or near.” And Lord Castlereagh, in 
his circular despatch of January, 1821, insists upon this principle, 
though qualified by the remark, and says : 

“This danger must be justified by the strongest necessity, and be 
limited and regulated thereby; that it could not receive a general and 
indiscriminate application to all revolutionary movements, without ref¬ 
erence to their immediate bearing upon some particular state or states. 
But its exercise was an exception to general principles of the greatest 
value and importance; and one that only grows out of the special case and 
exceptions of this description could never, without the utmost danger, 


320 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


be so far reduced to rule as to be incorporated into the ordinary 
diplomacy of states, or into the institution of the laws of nations.” 

Mr. Canning adopted the same views. 

The discretion of the statesman determines when to exercise a right 
the state possesses. It is a question of time only. 

There have been many instances of intervention that the world has 
justified, the most important of which I will name. Cromwell inter¬ 
vened to prevent the extermination of the Waldenses. England inter¬ 
fered to aid the Netherlands against Spain. That of then noble 
•and patriotic France in aid of our country. France, England and 
Russia, aided the Greeks, and brought them safely out of their fearful 
struggle with Turkey. Russia, England, Prussia and Austria, inter¬ 
fered with the affairs of Egypt and the Porte. The French interfered 
in the affairs of Algiers, to prevent the piratical soldiers oppressing 
the natives — at first; though such intervention subsequently became 
one of conquest, at the beginning it was not. The five great powers 
intervened in the affairs of Belgium and Holland. The United States 
interfered in behalf of the Sandwich Islands, to prevent France from 
taking possession of them. 

Several declarations have been made by various nations, and at dif¬ 
ferent periods, that they should intervene under certain exigencies. 
Some of these protests have been regarded; others have not. 

Perhaps the boldest of them all was that of President Monroe, in his 
annual message of 1825 ; and the same doctrine was reiterated by 
President Polk, in 1845. 

This grew out of the second Congress of Panama, invited by Boli¬ 
var. Buenos Ayres and Chili refused to send delegates, which was 
said to be caused by the desire of Bolivar to create an empire. The 
United States were opposed to this, and, believing foreign influence the 
instigation, in 1825 made solemn declaration “ that European inter¬ 
vention in the affairs of South America would be considered as dan¬ 
gerous to the peace of the United States, and the manifestation of an 
unfriendly disposition.” Such is the principle boldly —and I say 
justly and legally— proclaimed. 

Whether it would have been more or even a tithe as dangerous to 
our liberties for some nation of Europe to have interfered in the pred¬ 
atory warfare of some of the remote provinces of South America, or 
as great a manifestation of unfriendly disposition as, in the heart of 
Europe, at this enlightened age, when an important nation of nearly 
fourteen millions is just forming herself into a liberal government, to 
overrun her territory with a blood-thirsty soldiery, and at one fell 
swoop annihilate her, I leave for others to speculate and reason upon. 

The case of Greece excited more universal attention than any that 
history records, save the one. under consideration. Many who now 
hear me well recollect the excitement that pervaded this country. The 
question of sending an agent to Greece was discussed in this hail. 

Mr. Webster’s speech upon that occasion is familiar to all, as it has 
been recently republished j and in no effort of his life, in my opinion 


APPENDIX. 


321 


has that great man done greater honor to himself and country. Mr. 
Clay supported the same position with Mr. Webster. Thus the two 
great champions of different interests were found together. They laid 
aside all party animosities, and met upon the broad platform of patri¬ 
otism and philanthropy. 

Mr. Clay now takes different ground. He was then in the full 
strength of mature manhood. Disease and age had not wasted his 
physical strength, nor, imperceptibly to him, preyed upon his intellect, 

“ Like a worm i’ the bud.” 

Greece had no agent here to speak for her, but our citizens w T ere awake 
to her interest. Strange as it may appear to us now, at that time 
the Legislature of South Carolina called upon Congress to interfere 
and acknowledge the independence of Greece. And our good neigh¬ 
bors of the city of Washington, in their warm zeal, asked that mate¬ 
rial aid, in implements of war, might be sent to Greece by our 
government. 

President Monroe, in his annual message of 1822, in speaking of 
Greece, says : “ The United States owe to the world a great example, 
and, by means thereof, to the cause of liberty and humanity a gen¬ 
erous support.” And very similar was the tone of several succeeding 
messages, while this struggle was pending. There can be no mistaking 
his views. It is a fact, as I understand it, that his Secretary of State 
was in open correspondence with the chairman of the Greek commit¬ 
tee in London. 0 

England first intervened by recognizing the independence of Greece. 

The interference might, and perhaps should, have been based upon 
the principles of humanity; but, in the preamble of pacification, the 
governments of England, France and Russia, at London, July, 1827, 
put their interference upon the ground of “the necessity of preventing 
the impediments to trade,” to “prevent the risks that their subjects 
would incur to their interests.” This must be regarded as the extreme 
reason one nation can assign to interfere in the affairs of another. 

Mr. Speaker, in the case of Greece and Turkey, I have gone more 
fully into the details, inasmuch as there exist strong reasons that, had 
not the nations of Europe intervened, this government would. The 
case of Greece, though strong, was weak as compared with the one 
under consideration. 

That w r as more than a quarter of a century ago, when the resources 
of the country were feeble as compared with them now. Then we had a 
population of ten millions ; now, of twenty-five millions. Then it was 
a three months’ journey to Europe; now it takes but a dozen days. 
Then our commercial interests in the European trade were inconsider¬ 
able ; now they are immense. Then we had a national debt upon us, 
and w r ere poor; now we are the same as free from debt, and the richest 
people in the world. 

We have all felt grateful to France for her intervention in behalf of 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


qoo 

Ouij 

our noble ancestors in tbeir perilous struggle for tbe freedom we 
enjoy. We never said “ it was wrong in her,” and that “ she was 
foolish,” or that she had “ sinister and hidden motives of self.” We 
never condemned the Continental Congress for sending Dr. Franklin 
to France on the same errand that Kossuth is here; nor have we any 
doubt that great and good man used his best skill in accomplishing the 
great purpose of his mission. But for his success, our fate must for 
many years have been that of Hungary. 

Mr. Speaker, if I am right, this or any other nation has an unques¬ 
tionable right to intervene in the affairs of Hungary. First, for the 
reason that Russia committed a most flagrant violation of a well-estab¬ 
lished principle of international law in her intervention; and second, 
upon the principle of safety, justice between nations, humanity, and 
last, commerce. 

For a moment I call the attention of the House and country to the 
course of the Russian Czar, and the monarchs who obey his nod and do 
his bidding. 

Soon after the restoration of the Bourbons, the “Holy Alliance” 
was formed; and for its singularity — not for its blasphemy — I 
quote it: 

“ In the name of the most Holy and Invisible Trinity, their Majes¬ 
ties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor 
of Russia, solemnly declare that the present act has no other object 
than to publish to the face of the world their fixed resolution, both in 
the administration of their respective states and in their political rela¬ 
tions with every other government, to take for their sole guide the pre¬ 
cepts of that holy religion, namely, the precepts of justice, Christian¬ 
ity and peace, which, far from being applicable only to private causes, 
must have an immediate influence on the counsels of princes, and guide 
all their steps, as being the only means of consolidating human 
institutions , and remedying their imperfections.” 

Most precious piety this ! It emanated from the court of Russia. 

In the Laybach circular of May, 1821, it is declared “ all useful 
and necessary changes ought only to emanate from the free will and 
intelligent conviction of those whom God has rendered responsible 
for power” Great Britain, thank Heaven ! repudiated the sacri¬ 
legious principle, as subversive of the principles of liberty and of her 
constitution. 

Again, in their Congress of Troppau, it is declared by these precious 
worthies that “ the powers have an undoubted right to take a hostile 
attitude in regard to those states in which an overthrow of the govern¬ 
ment may operate as an example .” It will be seen at once that this 
doctrine is a complete overthrow of the laws of nations, and, if carried 
out, would soon make the world one great battle-field. 

But these pious kings and emperors, at the instance of other powers, 
at London, in 1831, were forced to abandon their former positions. 
The right to interfere in the affairs of other nations, as pronounced at 


appendix. 


323 


Laybach, in 1821, was denied and denounced. See the protocol issued 
by the five great powers. 

Mr. Speaker, again we find Russia pursuing the same course with 
Hungary, as promulgated in the accursed doctrine of 1821—2. And 
have we not fresh cause of alarm for the progress of despotism, if not 
for the downfall of freedom everywhere, when we look upon France, 
that was our ally,—“ our very help in time of need,”— the nation we 
regarded above and beyond all others ? The necks of her people are 
bowed down with oppression; the yoke is upon them; their patriotism 
seems subverted, and their energies paralyzed, while a Nero President' 
is quenching his thirst for revenge with the best blood of her citizens; 
is gloating over the complete destruction of the tried patriots and best 
sons of the nation ; has destroyed the last ray of the blessed light of 
liberty, and is enshrouding the land with the gloom of the darkness of 
most fearful oppression; and, approving this, who is foremost to shake 
the bloody hand of the usurper, and congratulate him upon his great 
successes over human progress, but the Czar of Russia? Thus 
another powerful nation is added to the fell foes of freedom; I trust, 
sir, for a brief season only, and that the eagle of republican France 
will soon strangle in her talons the serpents that have crept within the 
sanctuary of her liberty. 

But a short time before the death of the great Bonaparte, he 
remarked that, “in fifty years Europe will be either republican or 
Cossack.” Heaven grant that the doubting prophecy of that wonder¬ 
ful man will soon find beautiful France the eternal home of free, con¬ 
stitutional, and happy republicanism ! It must be so. The instincts 
of despots assure them this, and that a death-struggle is at hand, unless 
the calm arid just intervention of other nations prevent it, and quiet 
the agitated world. Preparation has been gradually going on for the 
fearful result. All Europe seems now surcharged with the elements 
of strife. The political sky is dark and portentous. Black clouds, 
with thunder mutterings of distrust and defiance, are quickly passing 
across the horizon. The oppressor is uneasy and alarmed; “his knees 
tremble ;” he sees the “ hand-writing upon the wall.” The oppressed 
are gathering in their harvest, and making all ready for the terrible 
feast of Mars. Inaction now upon the part of other nations, and it 
must come. I repeat it, it must come; and no power, save “ Him who 
spread the north over the empty place, and hung the earth upon noth¬ 
ing,” can stay its progress, or prevent the fearful shock of contending 
millions. 

In such an event, will the United States have no interest in the 
residt ? Our commerce is in every European port, and our trade 
with all her nations. Have we no interest in the result ? Perad- 
venture “Europe becomes Cossack,” shall we have no interest in the 
result ? Then would follow, as effect follows cause, the whole power 
of despotic Europe to bear upon this happy land. The result might 
be fearful, and well worth warding off when it could have been done, 


324 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


and saved all blood-shed, saved Europe, saved America (perhaps), 
saved liberty, and greatly enlarged its borders. 

Mr. Speaker, what is to be done ? Shall we assume a quarrel that 
will lead to arms ? By no means. The remedy, in my humble judg¬ 
ment, is before us, which will at once quiet the unholy passions of 
mankind, and calm the heaving elements of political discord. 

I would recommend that the Congress of this republic emphatically 
declare : 

First, that “no nation has a right to interfere with the domestic 
affairs of another.’ 5 

And, second, that Congress recommend to the President of the 
United States the propriety of instructing our ministers and charges 
to foreign governments, to invite them to meet our own in a general 
Congress of nations, for the consideration , adoption , and future 
enforcement , of the above principle of international law. 

Such is my remedy, nor have I one doubt of its complete efficiency. 

So far as Hungary is concerned, the Czar might fret and fume for 
the time as the chided child; but the master powers of the world 
would awe him into respectful acquiescence. Talk of Russia going to 
war, upon the promulgation of such a principle by America, England, 
and the other principal powers of Europe ! The old Czar is not to be 
caught in any such arrant and destructive folly. His entire marine 
would soon disappear from the seas, while the navies of England and 
America would give security to the commerce of all nations. Much 
of the strength of his armies would be required to guard his ports. 
And does he not know that Poland yet has her legions of heroes, with 
long unsettled accounts of deep and burning hatred, who soon would 
hover upon his borders, like chafed and hungry lions for their prey ; 
that Hungary would, en masse, follow him to the death, to avenge 
their own fresh and bleeding wrongs ? France (I mean her people) 
has not forgotten her Russian campaign, nor the relentless cruelty of 
the Cossack barbarian; but a deadly hatred yet exists in the breast of 
the true Frenchman, and such an opportunity could not pass unim¬ 
proved. Switzerland, too, has a score to settle. 

Russia go to war for such a cause, or any cause, with such facts 
before her ! He who is credulous enough to believe so must have 
studied her history with ill success, and looked into the diplomacy 
of her emperor with little care. Much more likely would Nicholas be 
to applaud the edict with lip-words of kindness, and readily yield to 
it with court smiles of approbation. 

Mr. Speaker, a word more and I close. Had such a Congress con¬ 
vened one half-century ago, many wars would have been prevented, a 
vast amount of human suffering avoided, and millions of human lives 
saved. It would be a Congress of perpetual peace. Its moral influence 
would be irresistible. 

I would by no means carry this matter so far as to form “entan¬ 
gling alliances” with any other nation or nations; but such a Congress 
would insure the peace of the world, and the welfare of mankind, and 


APPENDIX. 


825 

the spread and ultimate triumph of republican principles in Europe 
would be its corollary. I would feel proud and happy to see my own 
beloved country, founded, as she is, upon the rock of eternal truth, 
take the lead in the declaration and promulgation of a great and uni¬ 
versal principle of right in the holy science of national morality. 


KOSSUTH’S LECTURE, 

DELIVERED AT THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE, JUNE 21, 1852. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : During six months I have appeared 
many times before the tribunal of public opinion in America. This 
evening I appear before you in the capacity of a working man. My 
aged mother, tried by more sufferings than any living being on earth, 
and my three sisters, one of them a widow with two fatherless orphans, 
—-together a homeless family of fourteen unfortunate souls,— have been 
driven by the Austrian tyrant from their home, that Golgotha of mur¬ 
dered right, that land of the oppressed, but also of undesponding braves, 
and the land of approaching revenge. 

When Russian violence, aided by domestic treason, succeeded to 
accomplish what Austrian perjury could not achieve, and I with bleed¬ 
ing heart went into exile, my mother and all my sisters were impris¬ 
oned by Austria ; but it having been my constant maxim not to allow 
to whatever member of my family any influence in public affairs, 
except that I trusted to the charitable superintending of my youngest 
sister the hospitals of the wounded heroes, as also to my wife the cares 
of providing for the furniture of these hospitals, not even the foulest 
intrigues could contrive any pretext for the continuation of their 
imprisonment. 

And thus, when diplomacy succeeded to fetter my patriotic activity 
by the incarceration in far Asia, after some months of unjust imprison¬ 
ment, my mother and sisters and their family were released; and, 
though surrounded by a thousand spies, tortured by continual inter¬ 
ference with their private life, and harassed by insulting police meas¬ 
ures, they had at least the consolation to breathe the native air, to see 
their tears falling upon native soil, and to rejoice at the majestic spirit of 
our people, which no adversities could bend and no tyranny could break. 

But, free at last, by the humanity of the Sultan, backed by Amer¬ 
ican generosity, seconded by England, I once more was restored to 
personal freedom, and by freedom to activity. Having succeeded to 
escape the different snares and traps which I unexpectedly met, I con¬ 
sidered it my duty publicly to declare that the war between Austrian 
tyranny and the freedom of Hungary is not ended yet; and I swore 
eternal resistance to the oppressors of my country, and declared that, 
faithful to the oath sworn solemnly to my people, I will devote my life 
to the liberation of my father-land. 

Scarcely reached the tidings of this, my after resolution, the bloody 

28 



826 


KOSSTJTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


court of Vienna, than two of my sisters were again imprisoned; my 
poor old mother escaping the same cruelty only on account that the 
bristling bayonets of the blood-hounds of despotism, breaking in the 
dead of night upon the tranquil house, and the persecution of my 
sisters, hurried away out of Hungary to the prisons of Vienna, threw 
her in a half-dying condition upon a sick bed. Again, no charge could 
be brought against the poor prisoners, because, knowing them in the 
tiger’s den, and surrounded by spies, I not only did not communicate 
anything to them about my foreign preparations, and my dispositions 
at home, but have expressly forbidden them to mix in any way with 
the doings of patriotism. 

But tyrants are suspicious. You know the tale about Marcius. 
He dreamt that he cut the throat of Dionysius the tyrant, and Dionysius 
condemned him to death, saying that he would not have dreamt such 
things in the night if he had not thought of them by day. Thus the 
Austrian tyrant imprisoned my sisters, because he suspected that, 
being my sisters, they must be initiated in my plans. At last, after 
five months of imprisonment, they were released, but upon the condi¬ 
tion that they, as well as my mother and all my family, should leave 
our native land. Thus they became exiles, homeless, helpless, poor. 
I advised them to come to your free country, the asylum of the 
oppressed, where labor is honored, and where they must try to live by 
their honest work. 

They followed my advice, and are on their way ; but my poor aged 
mother, and my youngest sister,— the tfidow with the two orphans,— 
being stopped by dangerous sickness at Brussels, another sister stopped 
with them to nurse them. The rest of the family is already on the 
way in a sailing ship, of course, I believe, and not in a steamer — for 
we are poor. My mother and sisters will follow, as soon as their 
health permits. 

I felt the duty to help them in their first establishment here. For 
•.his I had to work, having no means of my own. 

Some generous friends advised - me to try a lecture for this purpose, 
and I did it. I will not act the part of a crying complainant about 
our misfortunes ; we will bear it. Let me at once go to my task. 

There is a stirring vitality of busy life about this your city of New 
York, striking with astonishment the stranger’s mind. How great is 
the progress of humanity ! Its steps are counted by centuries ; and 
yet, while countless millions stand almost at the same point where they 
stood, and some even have declined since America first emerged out 
of an unexplored darkness, which had covered her for thousands 
of years, like the gem in the sea; while it is but yesterday a few Pil¬ 
grims landed on the wild coasts of Plymouth, flying from causeless 
oppressions, seeking but for a place of refuge and of rest, and for a 
free spot in the wilderness to adore the Almighty in their own way; 
still, in such a brief time, shorter than the recorded genealogy of the 
noble horse of the wandering Arab,—yes, almost within the turn of the 
hand,—out of the unknown wilderness a mighty empire arose, broad as 


APPENDIX. 


327 

an ocean, solid as a mountain rock; and upon the scarcely rotted roots 
of the primitive forest proud cities stand, teeming with boundless life, 
growing like the prairie grass in spring, advancing like the steam- 
engine, baffling time and distance like the telegraph, and spreading 
the pulsation of their life-tide to the remotest parts of the world ; and 
in those cities and on that broad land a nation, free as the mountain 
air, independent as the soaring eagle, active as nature, and powerful as 
the giant strength of millions of freemen. 

How t wonderful! What a present, and what a future yet! 

Future ? — Then let me stop at this mysterious w r ord, the veil of 
unrevealed eternity! 

The shadow of that dark word passed across my mind, and, amid the 
bustle of this gigantic bee-hive, there I stood with meditation alone ! 

And the spirit of the immovable past rose before my eyes, unfolding 
the misty picture-rolls of vanished greatness, and of the fragility of 
human things. 

And among their dissolving views there I saw the scorched soil of 
Africa, and upon that soil Thebes with its hundred gates, more splendid 
than the most splendid of all the existing cities of the world,—Thebes, 
the pride of old Egypt, the first metropolis of arts and sciences, and the 
mysterious cradle of so many doctrines which still rule mankind in dif¬ 
ferent shapes, though it has long forgotten their source. There I saw 
Syria, with its hundred cities, every city a nation, and every nation 
with an empire’s might. 

Baalbec, with its gigantic •temples, the very views of which baffle 
the imagination of man, as they stand like mountains of carved rocks 
in the desert, where for hundreds of miles not a stone is to be found, 
and no river flows, offering its tolerant bark to carry a mountain’s 
weight upon; and yet there they stood, those gigantic ruins ; — and, 
as we glance at them w T ith astonishment, though we have mastered the 
mysterious elements of nature, and know the combination of levers, 
and how to catch the lightning, and to command the power of steam 
and compressed air, and how to write with the burning fluid out of 
which the thunderbolt is forged, and how to drive the current of 
streams up the mountain’s top, and how to make the air shine in the 
night like the light of the sun, and how to dive to the bottom of the 
deep ocean, and how to rise up to the sky,— cities like New York 
dwindle to the modest proportion of a child’s toy, so that we are tempted 
to take the nice little thing up on the nail of our thumb, as Micromegas 
did with the man of wax. 

Though we know all this, and many things else, still, looking at the 
times of Baalbec, we cannot forbear to ask what people of giants was 
that which could do what neither the puny efforts of our skill nor the 
ravaging hand of unrelenting time can undo, through thousands of 
years. °And then I saw the dissolving picture of Nineveh, with its 
ramparts now covered with mountains of sand, where Layard is dig¬ 
ging up colossal-winged bulls, huge as a mountain, and yet carved 
with the nicety of a cameo; and then Babylon, with its wonderful 


328 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


walls; and Jerusalem, with its unequalled temple; Tyrus, with its 
countless fleets; Arad, with its wharves ; and Sidon, with its laby¬ 
rinth of work-shops and factories; and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Beyrout, 
and further off Persepolis, with its world of palaces. 

All these passed before my eyes as they have been, and again they 
passed as they now are, with no trace of their ancient greatness, but 
here and there a ruin, and everywhere the desolation of tombs. With 
all their splendor, power and might, they vanished like a bubble, or 
like the dream of a chilli, leaving but for a moment a drop of cold 
sweat upon the sleeper’s brow, or a quivering smile upon his lips ; then 
this wiped away,— dream, sweat and smile, all is nothingness. So the 
powerful cities of the ancient greatness of a giant age; their very 
memory but a sad monument of the fragility of human things. And 
yet, proud of the passing hour’s bliss, men speak of the future, and 
believe themselves insured against its vicissitudes. 

And the spirit of history rolled on the misty shapes of the past 
before the eyes of my soul. After those cities of old came the nations 
of old. The Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the warlike Philistines, the 
commercial republics of Phoenicia and the Persians, ruling from the 
Indus to the Mediterranean, and Egypt, becoming the centre of the 
universe, after having been thousands of years ago the cradle of its 
civilization. 

Where is the power, the splendor and the glory, of all those mighty 
nations ? All has vanished, without other trace than such as the foot 
of the wanderer leaves upon the dust. 4 And still men speak of the 
future with proud security. And yet they know that Carthage is no 
more, though it ruled Spain, and ruled Africa beyond the Pillars of 
Hercules down to Cyrene, an immense territory, blessed with all the 
blessings of nature, which Hermon filled with flourishing cities, of 
which now no trace remains. And men speak of the future, though 
they know that such things as heroic Greece once did exist, glorious 
in its very ruins, and a source of everlasting inspiration in its immortal 
memory! 

Men speak of the future, and still they can rehearse the powerful 
colonies that issued from Greece, and the empires their heroic sons 
have founded. And they can mark out with a finger on the map the 
unparalleled conquests of Alexander; how he crossed victoriously that 
desert whence Semiramis, out of a countless host, brought home but 
twenty men ; and Cyneas, out of a still larger number, only seven 
men. But he (Alexander) went on in triumph, and conquered India 
up to the Ilydaspes as he conquered before Tyrus and Egypt, and 
secured with prudence what he had conquered with indomitable 
energy. 

And men speak of the future, though they know that such a thing 
as Borne did exist; — Rome, the mistress of the world ; Rome, rising 
from atomic smallness to immortal greatness, and to a grandeur absorb¬ 
ing the world; Rome, now having all her citizens without, and now 
again having all the world within her walls, and passing through all 


APPENDIX. 


329 


the vicissitudes of gigantic rise, wavering decline, and mournful fall. 
And men speak of the future still, with these awful monuments of 
fragility before their eyes ! 

But it is the sad fate of humanity that, encompassing its hopes, fears, 
contentment and wishes, within the narrow scope of momentary satis¬ 
faction, the great lesson of history is taught almost in vain. What¬ 
ever be its warnings, we rely on good fortune, and we are ingenious in 
finding out some soothing pretext to lull down the dread admonitions 
of history. Man, in his private capacity, consoles the instinctive 
apprehension of his heart with the idea that his condition is different 
from what warningly strikes his mind. 

The patriot feels well, that not only the present but also the future 
of his beloved country has a claim to his cares ; but he lulls himself 
into carelessness by the ingenious consolation that the condition of his 
country is different; that it is not obnoxious to those faults which made 
other countries decline and fall; that the time is different, the charac¬ 
ter and spirit of the nation are different, its power not so precarious, 
and its prosperity more solid ; and that, therefore, it will not share the 
fate of those which vanished like a dream. And the philanthropist, 
also, whose heart throbs for the lasting welfare of all humanity, cheers 
his mind with the idea that, after all, mankind at large is happier than 
it was of yore, and that this happiness insures the future against the 
reverses of olden times. 

That fallacy, natural as it may be, is a curse which weighs heavily 
on us. Let us see in what respect our age is different from those olden 
times. Is mankind more virtuous than it has been of yore 7 Why, 
in this enlightened age, are we not looking for virtuous inspirations to 
the godlike characters of these olden times 7 If we take virtue to be 
love of the laws, and of the father-land, dare we say that our age is 
more virtuous 7 If that man is to be called virtuous who, in all his 
acts, is but animated by a regard to the common good, and who, in 
every case, feels ready to subordinate his own selfish interest to public 
exigencies,— if that be virtue (as indeed it is), I may well appeal to the 
conscience of mankind to give an impartial verdict upon the question, 
if our age be more virtuous than the age of Codrus or of Regulus, of 
Decius and of Scaevola 7 

Look to the school of Zeno, the stoics of immortal memory; and 
when you see them contemning alike the vanity of riches and the am¬ 
bition of personal glory, impenetrable to the considerations of pleasure 
and of pain, occupied only to promote public welfare and to fulfil their 
duties toward their community,— when you see them inspired in their 
acts by the doctrine that, born in a society, it is their duty to live for 
the benefit of society,—and when you see them placing their own hap¬ 
piness only upon the happiness of their fellow-men, then say if our 
too selfish, too material age, can stand a comparison with that olden 

* When you remember the politicians of ancient Greece, acknowledg¬ 
ing no other basis for the security of the commonwealth than virtue, 
28 * 


330 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


and see the political system of our days turning only upon manufac¬ 
tures, commerce and finances, will you say that our age is more vir¬ 
tuous ? When, looking to your own country,— the best, and the hap¬ 
piest because the best, of all,— you will not dissimulate in your mind 
what considerations influence the platforms of your political parties; 
and then, in contra-position, will reflect upon those times when Timon 
of Athens, chosen to take part in his country’s government, assembled 
his friends and renounced their friendship, in order that he might not 
be tempted by party considerations, or by affections of amity, in his 
important duties towards the commonwealth. Then, having thus 
reflected, say, “ Will you take your own age to be mora virtuous, and 
therefore more insured against the reverses of fortune, than those 
older times 7 ” 

But perhaps there is a greater amount of private happiness, and, by 
the broad diffusion of private welfare, the security of the commonwealth 
is more lasting and more sure 7 

Caraccioli, having been ambassador in England, when returned to 
Italy, said that “ England is the most detestable country in the world, 
because there are to be found twenty different sorts of religion, but only 
two kinds of sauce with which to season meat.” There is a point in that 
questionable jest — materialism ! — curse of our age ! Who can seri¬ 
ously speak about the broad diffusion of happiness in a country where 
contentment is measured according to the many kinds of sauces we can 
taste 7 My people is by far not the most material. We are not much 
given to the cupidity of becoming rich. We know the word “ enough.” 
The simplicity of our manners makes us easily contented in our mate¬ 
rial relations. We like rather to be free than to be rich; we look for 
an honorable profit, that we may have upon what to live. But we 
don’t like to live for the sake of profit; augmentation of property and 
of wealth with us is not the aim of life. We prefer tranquil, inde¬ 
pendent mediocrity, to the incessant excitement and incessant toil of 
cupidity and gain. Such is the character of my nation; and yet I 
knew a countryman of mine who blew out his brains because he had 
no means more to eat daily patee de fois gras and drink champagne. 
Well, that was no Hungarian character; but, though somewhat eccen¬ 
trically, he characterized the leading feature of our country. 

Indeed, are your richest money-kings happier than Fabricius was, 
when he preferred his seven acres of land, worked by his own hands, 
to the treasures of an empire 7 Are the ladies of to-day, adorned with 
all the gorgeous splendor of wealth, of jewels and of art, happier than 
those ladies of ancient Rome have been, to whom it was forbidden to 
wear silk and jewelry, or drive in a carriage through the streets of 
Rome 7 Are the ladies of to-day happier in their splendid parlors than 
the Portias and the Cornelias have been in the homely retirement of 
their modest nurseries 7 Nay; all that boundless thirst of wealth, 
which is the ruling spirit of our age, and the moving power of enter¬ 
prising energy,— all this hunting after treasures, and all its happiest 
results,— have they made men nobler, better, and happier 7 Have they 


APPENDIX. 


331 

improved their soul, or even their body and health, at least so much 
that the richest of men could eat and digest two dinners instead of 
one . Or has the insatiable thirst of material gain originated a purer 
patriotism ? Has it made mankind more devoted to their country 
more ready to sacrifice for public interest? If that were the case’ 
then I would gladly confess the error of my doubts, and take the pre¬ 
tended larger amount of happiness for a guarantee of the future of the 
commonwealth. » 

But, ladies and gentlemen, a single word,— the manner in which 
we use it, distorting its original meaning, often characterizes a whole 
century. You all know the word u idiot.” Almost every living lan¬ 
guage has adopted it, and all languages attach to it the idea that an 
“idiot” is a poor, ignorant, useless wretch, nearly insane. Well, 
11 idiot ” is a word of Greek extraction, and meant with the Greek a 
man who cared nothing for the public interest, but was all devoted to 
the selfish pursuit of private profit, whatever might have been its 
results to the community. 0, what an immense, what a deplorable 
change must have occurred in the character of humanity, till uncon¬ 
sciously we came to the point that, by what name the ancient Greeks 
would have^styled those European money-kings, who, for a miserable 
profit, administer to the unrelenting despots their eternal loans to 
oppress nations with, we now apply that very name to the wretched 
creatures incapable to do anything for themselves ! We bear compas¬ 
sion for the idiots of to-day; but the modern editions of Greek idiot- 
ism, though loaded with the bloody scars of a hundred thousand 
orphans, and with the curse of millions, stand high in honor, and go 
on, proudly glorying in their criminal idiotism, heaping up the gold of 
the world ! 

But I may be answered that, after all, though our age be not so 
virtuous, and though the large accumulation in wealth has in reality 
not made mankind happier, still it cannot be denied you are in a pros¬ 
perous condition, and prosperity is a solid basis of your country’s 
future. Industry, navigation, commerce, have so much developed, 
they have formed so many ties by which every citizen is linked to his 
country’s fate, that your own material interest is a security to your 
country’s future. 

In loving your own selves you love your country, and in loving 
your country you love your own selves. This community of public 
and private interest will make you avoid the stumbling-block over 
which others fell. Prosperity is, of course, a great benefit; it is one 
of the aims of human society; but, when prosperity becomes too mate¬ 
rial, it does not always guarantee the future. Paradoxical as the 
statement may appear, too much prosperity is often dangerous, and 
some national misfortune is now and then a good preservation of pros¬ 
perity. 

For much prosperity makes nations careless of their future; seeing 
no immediate danger, they believe no danger possible; and then, when 
a danger comes, either by sudden chance or by the slow accumulation 


332 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


of noxious elements, then, frightened by the idea that, in meeting the 
danger, their private prosperity might be injured or lost, selfishness 
often prevails over patriotism, and men become ready to submit to arro¬ 
gant pretensions, and compromise with exigencies at the price of prin¬ 
ciples ; and republics flatter despots, and freemen covet the friendship 
and indulgence of tyrants, only that things may go on just as they go, 
though millions weep, and nations groan; but still things should go 
on just as the/go, because every change may claim a sacrifice, or 
affect our thriving private interest. Such is often the effect of too 
great, of too secure prosperity. Therefore, prosperity alone affords 
yet no security. 

You remember the tale of Polycrates. He was the happiest of men; 
good luck attended every one of his steps; success crowned all he 
undertook, and a friend thus spoke to him : 11 Thou art too happy for 

thy happiness to last; appease the anger of the Eumenides by a vol¬ 
untary sacrifice, or deprive thyself of what thou most valuest among 
all that thou possessest.” Polycrates obeyed, and drew from his 
finger a precious jewel, of immense value, dear to his heart, and threw 
it into the sea. Soon after, a fish was brought to his house, and the 
cook found the precious ring in the belly of the fish; but the friend 
who had advised him hastened to flee from the house, and shook the 
dust of its threshold from his shoes, because he feared a great mischief 
must fall upon that too prosperous house. There is a deep meaning 
in that tale of Polycrates. 

Machiavel says that it is now and then necessary to recall the con¬ 
stituent essential principles to the memory of nations. And who is 
charged by Providence with this task ? Misfortune ! The battles of 
Cannae and of Thrasymene recalled the Romans to the love of their 
father-land. Nations have had till now about such things no other 
teacher than misfortune. They should choose to have a less afflicting 
one. They can have it. To point this out will be the final object of 
my remarks. But so much is certain, that prosperity alone is yet no 
security for the future, even of the happiest commonwealth. 

Those ancient nations have been also prosperous. They were indus¬ 
trious, as your nation is; their land has been covered with cities and 
villages, well-cultivated fields, blessed with the richest crops, and 
crowded with countless herds spread over immense territories, furrowed 
with artificial roads ; their flourishing cities swarmed with artists, and 
merchants, and workmen, and pilots, and sailors, like as New York 
does. Their busy laborers built gigantic water-works, digged endless 
canals, and carried distant waters through the sands of the desert • 
their mighty, energetic spirit built large and secure harbors, dried the 
marshy lakes, covered the sea with vessels, the land with living beings, 
and spread a creation of life and movement along the earth° Their 
commerce was broad as the known world. Tyre exchanged its purple 
for the silk of Serique; Cashmere’s soft shawls, to-da/yet a luxury 
of the wealthiest, the pearls of Havila, the diamonds of Golconda, the 
gorgeous carpets of Lydia, the gold of Ophir and Saba, the aromatic 


APPENDIX. 


833 


spices and jewels of Ceylon, and the pearls and the perfumes of Arabia, 
the myrrh, silver, gold-dust and ivory of Africa, as well as the amber 
of the Baltic and the tin of Thule, appeared alike in their commerce, 
raising them in turn to the dominion of the world, and undoing them 
by too careless prosperity. 

The manner and the shape of one or the other art, or one or the 
other industry, has changed; the steam-engine has replaced the row¬ 
ing bench, and the cannon replaced the catapult; but, as a whole, even 
your country, which you are proud to hear styled “the living wonder 
of the world,”— yes, even your country in the New World, and Eng¬ 
land in the Old,— England, that gigantic work-shop of industry, sur¬ 
rounded with a beautiful evergreen garden,— yes, all the dominions 
of the Anglo-Saxon race can claim no higher praise of its prosperity, 
than when we say that you have reproduced the grandeur of those 
ancient nations, and nearly equal their prosperity. And what has 
become of them ? A sad skeleton. What remains of their riches, of 
their splendor, and of their vast dominions ? An obscure recollection, 
— a vain memory. Thus fall empires, thus vanish nations, which 
have no better guardians than their prosperity. 

But “we have,” will you say, “we have a better guardian,— our 
freedom, our republican institutions, our confederation uniting so many 
glorious stars into one mighty galaxy,— these are the ramparts of our 
present, these our future security.” 

Well, it would ill become me to investigate if there be “something 
rotten in the state of Denmark; ” and certainly I am not the man 
who could feel inclined to undervalue the divine power of liberty,— to 
underrate the value of your democratic institutions, and the vitality 
of your glorious Union. It is to them I look in the solitary hours of 
meditation ; and when, overwhelmed with the cares of the patriot, my 
soul is groaning under nameless woes, it is your freedom’s sunny light 
which dispels the gloomy darkness of despondency; — here is the 
source whence the inspiration of hope is flowing to the mourning 
world, that down-trodden millions at the bottom of their desolation 
still retain a melancholy smile upon their lips, and still retain a voice 
in their bleeding chest, to thank the Almighty God that the golden 
thread of freedom is not lost on earth. 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, all this I feel, and all this I know, 
reflecting upon your freedom, your institutions, and your Union. 
But, casting back my look into the mirror of the past, there I see upon 
mouldering ground, written with warning letters, the dreadful truth that 
all this has nothing new, and all this has been, and all this has never 
yet been proved sufficient security. Freedom is the fairest gift of 
Heaven ; but it is not the security of itself. Democracy is the embod¬ 
iment of freedom, which in itself is but a principle. But what is the 
security of democracy? And if you answer “ the Union is,” then I 
ask, “and where is the security of the Union?” Yes, ladies and 
gentlemen, freedom is no new word. It is as old as the world. Des¬ 
potism is new, but freedom not. And yet it has never proved a char- 


334 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


ter to the security of nations. Republic is no new word. It is as old 
as the word “society.” Before Rome itself, a republic absorbed the 
world. There were in all Europe, Africa and Asia Minor, but repub¬ 
lics to be found, and many among them democratic. Men had to wan¬ 
der to far Persia, if they would have desired to know what sort of thing 
a monarch is. And all they have perished,— the small ones by foreign 
power, the large ones by domestic vice. 

And union, and confederacy, the association of societies, a confed¬ 
erate republic of republics, is also no new invention. Greece has 
known it, and flourished by it for a while. Rome has known it; by 
such associations she attacked the world. The world has known them; 
with them it defended itself against Rome. The so-called barbarians 
of Europe, beyond the Danube and the Rhine, have known it: it was 
by a confederacy of union that they resisted the ambitious mistress of 
the world. Your own country — America — has known it; the tra¬ 
ditionary history of the Romans of the west, of those six Indian 
nations, bears the records of it, out of an older time than your ances¬ 
tors settled in this land; the wise man of the Onondaga nation has 
exercised it long before your country’s legislators built upon that basis 
your independent home. And still it proved in itself alone no security 
to all those nations who have known it before you. 

Your own fathers have seen the last of the Mohawks bury his bloody 
tomahawk in the name-sake flood, and bare his head to the majestic 
words of Logan, spoken with the dignity of an iEmilius, that there 
exists no living being on earth in the veins of whom one drop of the blood 
of his race did flow. Well, had history nothing else to teach us than 
that all that the wisdom of man did conceive, and all that his energy 
has executed, through all the innumerable days of the past, and all 
that we take to be glorious in nations and happy to men, cannot do so 
much as to insure a future even to such a flourishing commonwealth as 
yours ; then weaker hearts may well ask: “ What good is it to warn 
us of a fatality which we cannot escape ? What good is it to hold up 
the mournful monuments of a national mortality, to sadden our heart, 
if all that is human must share that common doom? Let us do as we 
can, and so far as we can; and let the future bring what bring it 
may.” 

But that would he the speech of one having no faith in the all¬ 
watching Eye, and regarding the eternal laws of the universe not as 
an emanation of a bountiful Providence, but of a blind fatality, which 
plays at hazard with the destinies of men. I never will share such 
blasphemy. Misfortune came over me, and came over my house, and 
came over my guiltless nation; still I never have lost my trust in the 
Father of all. I have lived the days when the people of my oppressed 
country went along weeping over the immense misfortune that they 
cannot pray, seeing the downfall of the justest cause and the out¬ 
rageous triumph of the most criminal of all crimes on earth ; and they 
went along not able to pray, and weeping that they are not able to 
pray. I shuddered at the terrible tidings in the desolation of my 


APPENDIX. 


335 


exile; but I could pray, and sent the consolation home that I do not 
despair,— that I believe in God, and trust in his bountiful providence, 
and ask them who of them, dares despair, when I do not ? 

I was in exile, as I am now, but arrogant despots were debating 
about my blood; my infant children in prison; my wife, the faithful 
companion of my sorrows and my cares,— I can hardly say of my 
joys,— hunted like a noble deer ; my sisters in the tyrant’s fangs, red 
with the blood of my nation; and the heart of my aged mother break¬ 
ing about the shattered fortunes of her house ; and all of them, at last, 
homeless wanderers, cast to the winds, like the yellow leaves of a 
fallen tree; and my father-land, my dear-beloved father-land, half 
murdered, half in chains ; and humanity nearly all oppressed, and 
those who are not yet oppressed looking with compassion at our sad 
fate, but taking it for wise policy not to help; and the sky of freedom 
dark on the horizon, and darkening fast over all; — and nowhere a 
ray of hope, a lustre of consolation nowhere,— and still I did not 
despair; and my faith to God, my trust to Providence, has spread 
over my down-trodden land. 

I, therefore, who do not despair of my own country’s future, though 
it be overwhelmed with misfortunes, I certainly have an unwavering 
faith in the destinies of humanity. And though the mournful exam¬ 
ple of so many fallen nations instructs us that neither the diffusion of 
knowledge nor the progress of industry, neither prosperity nor power, 

— nay, not even freedom itself,— can secure a future to nations; 

— still I say there is one thing which can secure it,— there is one law 
the obedience to which would prove a rock upon which the freedom and 
happiness of nations may rest sure to the end of their days; — and that 
law, ladies and gentlemen, is the law proclaimed by our Saviour; that 
rock is the unperverted religion of Christ. But, while the consolation 
of this sublime truth falls meekly upon my soul, like as the moon-light 
falls upon the smooth sea, I humbly claim your forbearance, ladies and 
gentlemen,— I claim it in the name of the Almighty Lord, to hear 
from my lips a mournful truth. 

It may displease you, it may offend; but still truth is truth. 
Offended vanity may blame me, power may frown at me, and pride 
may call my boldness arrogant, but still truth is truth; —and I, bold 
in my unpretending humility, will proclaim that truth. I will pro¬ 
claim it from land to land, and from sea to sea; I will proclaim it with 
the faith of the martyrs of old, till the seed of my word falls upon the 
conscience of men. Let come what come may, I say, with Luther, 
God help me — I cannot otherwise ! 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the law of our Saviour, the religion of 
Christ, can secure a happy future to nations. But, alas ! there is yet 
no Christian people on earth,— not a single one among all. I have 
spoken the word. It is harsh, but true. Nearly two thousand years 
have passed since Christ has proclaimed the eternal decree of God, to 
which the happiness of mankind is bound, and has sanctified it with 


336 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


his own blood, and still there is not one single nation on earth which 
would have enacted into its law-book that eternal decree. 

Men believe in the mysteries of religion, according to the creed of 
their church. They go to church, and they pray and give alms to the 
poor, and drop the balm of consolation into the wounds of the afflicted, 
and believe they do all that the Lord commanded to do, and believe they 
are Christians. No ! some few may be, but their nation is not,— their 
country is not. The era of Christianity has yet to come ; and when it 
comes, then, only then, will the future of nations be assured. Far be it 
from me to misapprehend the immense benefit which the Christian 
religion, such as it already is, has operated in mankind’s history. It has 
influenced the private character of men, and the social condition of mil¬ 
lions ; it was the nurse of a new civilization; and, softening the man¬ 
ners and morals of men, its influence has been felt even in the worst 
quarter of history — in war. The continual massacres of the Greek 
and Roman kings and chiefs, and the extermination of nations by them, 
the all-devastating warfare of the Timours and Genghis Khans, are in 
general no more to be met with ; only my own dear father-land was 
doomed to experience once more the cruelties of the Timours and 
Genghis Khans out of the sacrilegious hands of the dynasty of Austria, 
which calumniates Christianity by calling itself Christian. But, 
though that beneficial influence of Christianity we have cheerfully to 
acknowledge, yet it is still not to be disputed that the law of Christ 
does yet nowhere rule the Christian world. 

Montesquieu himself, whom nobody could charge with being partial 
to republics, avows that despotism is incompatible with the Christian 
religion, because the Christian religion commands meekness, and des¬ 
potism claims arbitrary power to the whims and passions of a frail 
mortal; and still it is more than fifteen hundred years since the 
Christian religion became dominant, and throughout that long period 
despotism has been preeminently dominant. You can scarcely show 
one single truly democratic republic of any power which had sub¬ 
sisted but for a hundred years, exercising any influence upon the con¬ 
dition of the world. Constantine, raising the Christian religion to 
Rome’s imperial throne, did not restore the Romans to their primitive 
virtues. Constantinople became the sewer of vice; Christian worship 
did not change the despotic habits of kings. 

_ The Tituses, the Trajans, the Antonines, appeared seldom on Chris¬ 
tian thrones. On the contrary, mankind has seen, in the name of 
religion, lighted the piles of persecution, and blazing torches of intoler¬ 
ance ; the earth overspread with corpses of the million victims of fanat¬ 
icism ; the fields watered with blood; the cities wrapped in flame, and 
empires ravaged with unrelenting rage. Why ? Is it the Christian 
religion which caused these deplorable facts, branding the brow of 
partly degraded, partly outraged humanity? No. It was precisely 
the contrary; the fact that the religion of Christ never yet was prac¬ 
tically taken for an all-overruling law, the obedience to which, out¬ 
weighing every other consideration, would have directed the policy of 


APPENDIX. 


337 

nations, that fact is the source of evil whence the oppression of mil¬ 
lions has overflowed the earth, and which makes the future of the 
proudest, of the freest nation, to be like a house built upon sand. 

.hvery religion has two parts. One is the dogmatical,— the part of 
worship; the other is the moral part. The first — the dogmatic part 
— belonging to those mysterious regions which the arm of human 
understanding cannot reach, because they belong to the dominion of 
belief, and that begins where the dominion of knowledge ends. That 
part of religion, therefore, the dogmatic one, should be left to every 
man to settle between God and his own conscience. It is a sacred 
field, whereon worldly power never should dare to trespass, because 
there it has no power to enforce its will. Force can murder, it can 
make liars and hypocrites; but no violence on earth can force a man to 
believe what he does not believe. Yet the other part of religion — 
the moral part — is quite different. That teaches duties towards our¬ 
selves, and towards our fellow-men. 

It can be therefore not indifferent to the human family, it can be 
not indifferent to whatever community, if those duties be fulfilled or 
not. And no nation can, with full right, claim the title of a Christian 
nation, no government the title of a Christian government, which is not 
founded on the basis of Christian morality, and which takes it not for 
an all-overruling law to fulfil the moral duties ordered by the religion 
of Christ towards men, and nations, who are but the community of men, 
and toward mankind, which is the community of nations. Now, look 
to those dread pages of history, stained with the blood of millions, 
spilt under the blasphemous pretext of religion;—was it the interest to 
vindicate the rights and enforce the duties of Christian morality, which 
raised the hand of nation against nation, of government against gov¬ 
ernment? No,— it was the fanaticism of creed, and the fury of 
dogmatism. 

Nations and governments rose to propagate their manner to worship 
God, and their own mode to believe the inscrutable mysteries of eter¬ 
nity ; but nobody has yet raised a finger to punish the sacrilegious 
violation of the moral laws of Christ,— nobody ever stirred to claim 
the fulfilment of the duties of Christian morality towards nations. 
There is much speaking about the separation of church and state; 
and yet, on close examination, we shall see that there was, and there 
is, scarcely one single government entirely free from the direct or indi¬ 
rect influence of one or other religious denomination,— scarcely one 
which would not at least bear a predilection, if not countenance with 
favor, one or another creed; — but creed, and always creed. The 
mysteries of dogmatism and the manner of worship enter into these 
considerations. They enter even into the politics, and turn the scales 
of hatred and affection ; but certainly there is not one single nation, 
not one single government, the policy of -which would ever have been 
regulated by that law of morality which our Saviour has promulgated 
as the eternal law of God, which shall be obeyed in all the relations 
of men to men. But you say the direct or indirect amalgamation of 
29 


338 


KOSSUTII IN NEW ENGLAND. 


church and state proved to be dangerous to nations in Christian and 
for Christian times, because it affected the individual rights of men, 
and among them the dearest of all, the liberty of conscience and free¬ 
dom of thought. Well, of this danger, at least, the future of your 
country is free; because here, at least, in this your happy land, relig¬ 
ious liberty exists. Your institutions left no power to your govern¬ 
ment to interfere with the religion of your citizens. Here every man 
is free to worship God as he chooses to do. 

And that is true, and it is a great glory of your country that it is 
true. It is a fact which entitles to the hope that your nation will 
revive the law of Christ even on earth. However, the guarantee 
which your constitution affords to religious liberty is but a negative 
part of a Christian government. There are, besides that, positive 
duties to be fulfilled. He who does no violence to the conscience of 
man has but the negative merit of a man, doing no wrong; but, as he 
who does not murder, does not steal, and does not covet what his 
neighbor’s is, but, by not stealing, not murdering, not coveting what 
our neighbor’s is, we did yet no positive good; a man who does not 
murder has not yet occasion to the title of virtuous man. And here 
is precisely the infinite merit of the Christian religion. While Moses, 
in the name of the Almighty God, ordered but negative decrees 
towards fellow-men, the Christian religion commands positive virtue. 
Its divine injunctions are not performed by not doing wrong; it 
desires us to do good. The doctrine of Jesus Christ is sublime in its 
majestic simplicity. “Thou shalt love God above all, and love thy 
neighbor as thou lovest thyself.” 

This sublime doctrine is the religion of love; it is the religion of 
charity. u Though I speak with the tongue of angels, and have not 
charity, I am become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Though 
I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all 
knowledge, and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and 
have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods 
to feed the poor, and give my body to be burned, and have not char¬ 
ity, it profiteth me nothing.” Thus speaks the Lord, and thus he 
gave the law: “ Do unto others as thou desirest others to do unto 
thee.” Now, in the name of Him who gave this.law to humanity to 
build up the eternal bliss and temporal happiness of mankind,— in the 
name of that eternal Legislator, I ask, is in that charity , that funda¬ 
mental law of Christianity, any limit of distinction drawn between 
man in his power, and man in his natural capacity ? Is it but a law 
for a man where he is alone, and can do but little good ? Is it no law 
more where two are together, and can do more good,— no law more 
when millions are together ? Am I in my personal adversities, is my 
aged mother in her helpless desolation, are my homeless sisters whom 
you feed to-day that they may work to-morrow,— are we your neigh¬ 
bors, unto whom you do as you would others in a similar position do 
unto yourself! And is every one of my down-trodden people a 
neighbor to every one of you,— but all my people collectively, is it 


APPENDIX. 


339 


not a neighbor to you? And is my nation not a neighbor to your 
nation? Is my down-trodden land a neighbor to your down-trodden 
land ? 0, my God! men speak of the Christian religion, and style 

themselves Christians, and yet make a distinction between virtue in 
private life and virtue in public life; as if the divine law of charity 
would have been given only for certain small relations, and not for all 
the relations between men and men ! 

There he is again, with his eternal complaints about his country’s 
wrongs,” may perhaps somebody remark; “this is an assembly of 
charity, assembled to ease his private woes of family, and there he is 
again speaking of his country’s wrongs, and alluding to our foreign 
policy, about which he knows our views to be divided ! ” Thus I may 
be charged. 

My “private family -woes ! ” But all my woes, and all the woes 
of my family, are concentrated in the unwarrantable oppression of my 
father-land. You are an assembly of charity, it is true; and the 
Almighty may requite you for it; — but, being a charitable assembly, 
can you blame me that the filial and fraternal devotion of my heart, 
in taking with gratitude the balm of consolation which your charity 
pours into the bleeding wounds of my family, looks around to heal 
those wounds, the torturing pains of which you ease, but which cannot 
be cured but by justice and charity done to my father-land? 

Shall this sad heart of mine be contented by leaving to my home¬ 
less brother and sisters the means to have their bread by honest labor, 
their daily bread, salted with the bitter tears of exile ? And shall I 
not care to leave them the hope that their misfortune will have an end; 
that they will see again their beloved home; that they will see it inde¬ 
pendent and free, and live where their fathers lived, and sleep the 
tranquil sleep of death in that soil with which the ashes of their fathers 
mingle ? Shall I not care to give the consolation to my aged mother, 
that, when her soon departing soul, crowned with the garland of mar¬ 
tyrdom, looks down from the home of the blessed, the united joy of 
the heavens will thrill through her immortal spirit, seeing her dear, 
dear Hungary free ? Your views are divided on the subject, it may 
be; but can your views be divided upon the subject that it is the com¬ 
mand of God to love your neighbors as you love yourselves ? — that it 
is the duty of Christians, that it is the fundamental principle of the 
Christian religion, to do unto others as you desire others to do unto 
you ? And if there is, there can be no difference of opinion in regard 
to the principle; if no one in this vast assembly — whatever be the 
platform of his party — ever would disclaim this principle, will any 
one blame me that in the name of Christ I am bold to claim the appli¬ 
cation of that principle? I should not speak of politics? Well, I 
have spoken of Christianity. Your politics either agree with the law 
of Christ, or they do not agree with it. If they don’t agree, then 
your politics are not Christian; and if they agree, then I cause no 
division among you. 

And I shall not speak of my people’s wrongs ? 0, my people! — 


840 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


thou heart of my heart, and life of my life, to thee are bent the 
thoughts of my mind, and they will remain bent to thee, though all 
the world may frown ! To thee are pledged all the affections of my 
heart, and they will be pledged to thee as long as one drop of blood 
throbs within this heart! Thine are the cares of my waking hours; 
thine are the dreams of my restless sleep! Shall I forget thee, but 
for a moment ? Never! never! Cursed be the moment, and cursed 
be I in that moment, in which thou wouldst be forgotten by me ! 

Thou art oppressed, 0 my father-land! because the principles of 
Christianity have not been executed in practice; because the duties 
of Christianity have not been fulfilled; because the precepts of Chris¬ 
tianity have not been obeyed; because the law of Christianity did not 
control the policy of nations; because there are many impious govern¬ 
ments to offend the law of Christ, but there was none to do the duties 
commanded by Christ! 

Thou art fallen, 0 my country! because Christianity has yet to 
come; for it has not yet come — nowhere! Nowhere on earth! And 
with the sharp eye of misfortune piercing the dark veil of the future, 
and with the tongue of Cassandra relating what I see, I cry it out to 
high Heaven and shout it out to the earth,— Nations, proud of your 
momentary power, proud of your freedom, proud of your prosperity ! 
Your power is vain, your freedom is vain; your industry, your wealth, 
your prosperity, are vain. All this will not save you from sharing 
the mournful fate of those old nations, not less powerful than you, not 
less free, not less prosperous than you,— and still fallen, as you your¬ 
selves will fall,— all vanished, as you will vanish, like a bubble thrown 
up from the deep! There is only the law of Christ, there are only 
the duties of Christianity, which can secure your future, by securing 
at the same time humanity ! 

Duties must be fulfilled, else they are an idle word. And who 
would dispute that there is a positive duty in that law, “Love thy 
neighbor as thou lovest thyself” 'l Do untoothers as thou wouldst 
that others do unto thee ? Now, if there are duties in that law com¬ 
prised, who shall execute them, if free and powerful nations do not 
execute them ? No government can meddle with the private relations 
of its millions of citizens so much as to enforce the positive virtue of 
Christian charity in the thousand-fold complications of private life. 
That will be impossible; and our Saviour did not teach impossibilities. 
By commanding charity towards fellow-men in human relation, he 
commanded it also to governments. 

It is in their laws toward their own citizens, it is in their policy 
toward other nations, that governments and nations can fulfil those 
duties of Christianity; and what they can, that they should. How could 
governments hope to see their own citizens and other nations observing 
toward them the positive duties of Christian morality, when they them¬ 
selves do not observe them against others,— when oppressed nations, 
the victims, not of their own faults, but of the grossest violation of the 
law of Christ, look in vain around to find out a nation among Christian 


APPENDIX. 


841 


nations, and a government among Christian governments, doing unto 
them, in the hour of their supreme need, as the Saviour said that it is 
duty to do unto others in every case. 

Yes, gentlemen, as long as the principles of Christian morality are 
not carried up into the international relations, as long as the frao-ile 
wisdom of political exigencies overrules the doctrines of Christ, there 
is no freedom on earth firm, and the future of no nation sure. But 
let a powerful nation, like yours, raise Christian morality into its 
public conduct, that nation will have a future against which the very 
gates of hell itself will never prevail. The morality of its policy will 
react upon the morality of its individuals, and preserve it from domes¬ 
tic vice, which, without that prop, ever yet has attended too much 
prosperity, and ever yet was followed by a dreadful fall. The moral¬ 
ity of its policy will support justice and freedom on earth; and thus 
augmenting the number of free nations, all acting upon the same prin¬ 
ciple, its very future will be placed under the guarantee of them all, 
and preserve it from foreign danger, which it is better to prevent than 
to repel. 

And its future will be placed under the guarantee of the Almighty 
himself, who, true to his eternal decrees, proved, through the downfall 
of so many mighty nations, that he always punished the fathers in the 
coming generations ; but, alike bountiful and just, will not and cannot 
forsake those whom he gave power to carry out his laws on earth, and 
who willingly answered his divine call. Power, in itself, never yet 
was sure. It is right which makes power firm; and it is community 
which makes right secure. The task of Peter’s apostolate is accom¬ 
plished ; the churches are founded in the Christian world. The task 
of Paul’s apostolate is accomplished; the abuses of fanaticism and 
intolerance are redressed. But the task of him whom the Saviour 
most loved is not yet accomplished. The gospel of charity rules not 
yet the Christian world ; and, without charity, Christianity, you know, 
is “but sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” 

0 Charity ! thou fairest gift of Heaven, thou family link between 
nations, thou rock of their security, thou deliverer of the oppressed ! 

— when comes thy realm 7 Where is the man whom the Lord has 
chosen to establish thy realm 7 Who is the man whom the Lord has 
chosen to realize the religion, the tenets of which the most beloved dis¬ 
ciple of the Saviour has recorded from his divine lips 7 who is the man 
to reform, not Christian creeds, but Christian morality 7 — Man 7 No, 

— that is no task for a man, but for a nation. Man may teach a doc¬ 
trine ; but that doctrine of charity is taught, and taught with such 
sublime simplicity, that no sectarist yet has disputed its truth. 

Historians have been quarrelling about mysteries, and lost empires 
through their disputes. The Greeks were controversially disputing 
whether the Holy Ghost descends from the Father alone, or from the 
Father and Son ; and when Mahomet battered the walls of Byzantium, 
they heard it not. He pulled down the cross from Santa Sophia; they 
saw it not, till the scimetar of the Turk stopped the rage of quarrel 


342 


KOSSUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. 


with the blow of death; — in other quarters they went on disputing 
and deciding with mutual anathemas the question of transfiguration, 
and many other mysteries, which, being mysteries, constitute the 
private dominion of belief. But the doctrine of charity none of them 
disputes; there they all agree,— nay, in the idle times of scholastical 
subtilty, they have been quarrelling about the most extravagant 
fancies of a scorched imagination. Mighty folios have been w r ritten 
about the problem how many angels could dance upon the top of a 
needle without touching each other. 

The folly of subtlety went so far as to profane the sacred name of 
God, by disputing if he, being omnipotent, has the power to sin; if, 
in the holy wafer, he be present dressed or undressed ; if the Saviour 
would have chosen the incarnation in the shape of a gourd, instead of 
a man, how would he have preached, how acted miracles, and how 
have been crucified; and when they went to the theme of investi¬ 
gating if it was a whip or a lash with which the angels whipped St. 
Jerome for trying to imitate in his writings the pagan Cicero, it was 
but after centuries that Abbot Cartant dared to write that if St. Jer¬ 
ome was whipped at all, he was whipped for having badly imitated 
Cicero! 

Still, the doctrine of Christian charity is so sublime in its simplicity 
that not even the subtlety of scholasticism dared ever to profane it 
by any controversy; and still that sublime doctrine is not executed, 
and the religion of charity is not realized yet. The task of this glo¬ 
rious progress is only to be done by a free and powerful nation, 
because it is a task of action, and not of teaching. Individual man 
can but execute it in the narrow compass of the small relations of pri¬ 
vate life. It is only the power of a nation which can raise it to 
become a ruling law on earth; and, before this is done, the triumph 
of Christianity is not arrived; — and, without that triumph, freedom 
and prosperity, even of the mightiest nation, is not for a moment safe 
from internal decay, or from foreign violence. 

Which is the nation to achieve that triumph of Christianity, by pro¬ 
tecting justice with charity? Which shall do it, if not yours, whom 
the Lord has blessed above all, and from whom he much expects, 
because he has given it much ? 

Ye ministers of the gospel, who have devoted your life to expound 
the eternal truth of the book of life, remember my humble words, and 
remind those who with pious hearts listen to your sacred words that 
half virtue is no virtue at all, and that there is no difference in the 
duties of charity between public and private life. 

Ye missionaries, who have devoted your life to the propagation of 
Christianity, before you embark for the dangers of far inhospitable 
shores, remind those whom you leave that the example of a nation 
exercising right and justice on earth by charity would be the mightiest 
propagandism of the Christian religion. 

Ye patriots, loving your country’s future, and anxious about her 
security, remember the admonitions of history; remember that the 


APPENDIX. 


343 


freedom, the power and the prosperity, in which your country glories, 
is no new apparition on earth; — others also have had it, and yet they 
are gone. The prudence with which your forefathers have founded this 
commonwealth, the courage with which you develop it, other nations 
also have shown, and still they are gone. 

And ye, ladies,— ye fairest incarnation of the spirit of love, which 
vivifies the universe,— remember my words. The heart of man is 
given into your tender hands; you mould it in its infancy; you im¬ 
print the lasting work of character upon man’s brow; you ennoble his 
youth; you soften the harshness of his manhood; you are the guard¬ 
ian angels of his hoary age. All your vocation is love, and your life 
is charity. The religion of charity wants your apostolate, and 
requires your aid. It is to you I appeal, and leave the sublime topic 
of my humble reflection to the meditation of your Christian hearts. 

And thus my task of to-day is done. Man shall earn the means 
of life by the sweat of his brow. Thus shall my family. Your char¬ 
ity of to-day has opened the way to it. The school which my mother, 
if God spares her life, will superintend, and in which two of my sisters 
will teach, and the humble farm which my third sister and her family 
shall work, will be the gift of your charity to-day. 

A stony weight of cares is removed from my breast. 0, be blessed 
for it, be thanked for it, in the name of them all, who have lost every¬ 
thing, but not their trust to God, and not the benefit of being able to 
work ! My country will forgive me that I have taken from her the 
time of one day’s work, to give bread to my aged mother and to my 
homeless sisters, the poor victims of unrelenting tyranny. Returning 
to Europe, I may find my own little children in a condition that again 
the father will have to take the spade or the pen into his hand to give 

them bread. _ . 

And my father-land will again forgive me that that time is taken 
from her. That is all, what I take from her; nothing else what is 
given, or what belongs to her. And the day’s work which I take 
from my country I will restore it by a night’s labor. To-day, the 
son and the brother has done his task. You have requited his labor 
by a generous charity; the son and the brother thanks you for it, and 
the patriot, to resume his task, bids you a hearty, warm farewell! 









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